The Snake The Cross The Crown

The Snake The Cross The Crown was one of my favorite bands I got to work with back in my serious show booking days. They came to town with Gatsby's American Dream (supporting Acceptance on the tour, who took the Blacksburg night off) and upstaged them in every sense of the word. They were riding on the coattails of Mander Salis at the time, a tremendously cohesive and inventive record that was to be criminally underappreciated over time. The two years since that record, SCC lost their bassist and co-singer but gained an even more focused voice, embracing an emotive and unique folk twist that was the uncontested highlight of their previous work. This is an album of skittering drum brushes, foot stomping crescendos, group sing-a-longs, and triumphant tumbleweeds. "The Great American Smokeout" has been destined for my 2007 top 20 since it dropped as a demo in January of last year.

Listen:
The Great American Smokeout
Maps
[from Cotton Teeth|buy]