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GREAT NEWS: The Great Crusades have a St. Louis pedigree, three-
quarters of the band having grown up in nearby Collinsville, the
horseradish capital of the world. (No lie.) After cutting their teeth in high school bands, Brian Krumm and Brian Hunt wound up in Champaign, at the University of Illinois, where the group the Suede Chain came into a real focus. A couple of nationally distributed albums and a number of long tours followed. But the group, with a number of songwriters on hand, eventually split, unable to reach the next level and, perhaps, unsure of what exact sound would get them there. The two Brians eventually formed a new band in Champaign, the Great Crusades; then moved to Chicago, after the departure of two original bandmates. They released the album, "The First Spilled Drink of the Evening," in 1998, and toured Europe to some acclaim. Now, they're back. In a way. Though their latest album, "Damaged Goods," is recorded, pressed and in some folks hands, it's not yet picked up by a label, at least not Stateside. But chances are, if you email the band, you might be in luck. The band's basic formula is not exactly simple. It's got some art-rock in there and touches of horns. The odd nod to blues and a noticeable debt to Britpop. It's a diverse bag of tricks that they draw from, but the results are far from confused. On this album, the group treads in some mid-tempo odes to lost-love, but also steps up the pace on a number of tracks, like "Don't Know Who You Are," which is gussied up by the aforementioned brass. On the flipside, Krumm still gets down (way, way down) when singing about life's heartaches and heartbreaks, as he does on the acoustic closer, the title track. "Damaged Goods" is a big step for the band, which even won some praise in Rolling Stone for "The First?" released on Mud/Parasol Records. This time out, the band's got an even stronger case for some national play, with a release that should get picked up by someone, somewhere. It really is a wonderful album, cohesive, yet diverse. Lovely. more press |
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