February 27, 2010
By Brent Fleury
CD Review: Saint Solitude Journal of Retreat
"Journal of Retreat hangs together as a singular work flawlessly...Crosson's created a work of fantastic depth, beauty and artistry. Get this album."
This was not what I was expecting today. While I know that Asheville has some good indie rock acts, they never seem to want to send me their CDs. That is...until now. With a very few exceptions (most notably the trumpet on the song "And After"), Asheville musician Dup Crosson is the party responsible for each note of every song on this debut LP. Crosson's come a long way since his 2008 EP, Disaster Stories, (which I felt at the time could have been a more fleshed out effort), and has released what so far is my favorite local album of 2010. Journal of Retreat hangs together as a singular work flawlessly, as it takes cues from any number of sub-genres of punk and Brit-pop. At first, the two bands that popped immediately to mind for comparison were Sloan and The Killers (with moments of Jane's Addiction and early Pink Floyd), but as the cuts got deeper, the comparisons began to get harder to make. Brilliantly novel in his approach, he transitions from minimalistic overtures to beautifully-crafted anthems (sometimes within the same song!), and his lyrics are steeped in layers and layers of obscure, personal meaning. Some of my favorite lines include "Far away the family glows burning up in retail fire/ The thought of books that tell me, tell me how to waste my time," and "If you think we'll get away with it/ All we've got to do is pray for it." Crosson's created a work of fantastic depth, beauty and artistry. Get this album.
