
Crossed Wire – Spent
Genre: New wave, 80s Rock
Similar artists: The Cry, R.E.M, Big Star
Crossed Wire wrote an 80s classic with Spent, even if some of us only found out recently.
When people talk about the great bands of the past, they usually mention scenes and genres. It must make it easier to wrap your head around the whole thing. It’s more difficult to imagine artists routinely writing good material. It’s smoother to think of them as part of a movement, a genre, a school of thought.
The truth though is that once the stories have been told enough times, only the songs survive. Anecdotes of a band’s importance can only travel so far. Myths about an artist’s influence aren’t believed by everyone. Good songs provide the kind of value that can’t be ignored.
Crossed Wire wrote a would-be classic with Spent back in 1988. The band had its roots in hardcore punk. Spent was not a song one could easily present at a hardcore show. It is a song that, however, heard even decades later has a classic sort of beauty about it.
It could have been written by any of the great songwriters of the 1980s. But, it belonged to Crossed Wire. Each time somebody new is going to hear that, they’ll know just how good this band was. No anecdotes or stories will be required.
Aquageist – Drag
Genre: Screamo / Post-Hardcore, Emo, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Deftones, Thrice, Brand New, Loathe
Aquageist use bright paint and sharp strokes on their new single Drag.
It’s unwise to put down a particular genre or music scene. You’ll usually end up surprised, and having to eat your words. To many, the early 2000s heavy guitar bands lumped together under the blanket term of nu-metal, were all that was wrong with modern rock music.
Of course, the people possessing such vitriol were likely still listening to Bad Company and REO Speedwagon by the time that nu-metal happened. Critics focused on the frat-boy posturing of some of the scene’s biggest stars. And, in discrediting the entire trend, they missed out on some marvellously inventive bands that helped evolve the sound of heavy rock.
Aquageist take on the difficult task of starting where these bands stopped. Drag is an alternative-metal song that uses cleverly constructed textures to get its point across. The tension of the instrumental is gripping. The bass and vocals sound as if recorded in a million-dollar studio. And, Aquageist, wisely, leave plenty of unanswered questions that their supporters hope will be addressed in the future.