Die Kreuzen
Encyclopedia
Die Kreuzen was a rock
band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
which was formed in 1981. The name is broken German
for "the crosses", and was picked up by the band from a German Bible. They began as a hardcore punk
group and rapidly became a source of inspiration for a wide range of alternative rock
musicians, including Soundgarden
, Sonic Youth
, Voivod
, Drive Like Jehu
, Alice In Chains
, and Neurosis
.
After contributing tracks to the Charred Remains and The Master Tape compilations, the band's debut release was the Cows and Beer EP
. The band's 21-song eponymous debut album was released in 1984, and included new versions of the tracks from Cows and Beer. The 1986 follow-up, October File, saw the band move away from hardcore into slower, more conceptual work. Third album Century Days (1988) saw the band incorporate piano and a horn section.
In 1989, as a side project, Brammer joined the band Wreck
. Other members worked on side projects including Kubinski and Egeness's Cheap Trick
tribute band Chick Treat. On April 1, 1992, Egeness left the band. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the band members formed the band Chainfall, along with guitarist Charles Jordan (of S.O.D.A and Nerve Twins). Kubinski and Tunison later played in Fuckface, while Brammer played with the Carnival Strippers. Kubinski went on to form a new band, Custom Grand. Kubinski now plays in Decapitado. Egeness has composed scores for the movies The Astonished Man (2008), Wake Before I Die (2011), and The Weather Outside (2011).
The majority of their records were produced by future Nirvana
and Smashing Pumpkins producer
, Butch Vig
. All of their records, with the exception of their first 7" on Version Sound, were released by the Chicago record label, Touch & Go Records.
In 2005, a tribute to Die Kreuzen was released, Lean Into It - A Tribute to Die Kreuzen, featuring covers of Die Kreuzen songs by Napalm Death
, Mike Watt
, Voivod
, Season to Risk
, and Vic Bondi
among others. The album features liner notes by Thurston Moore
, who states, "Man, there was a point there when Die Kreuzen were the best band in the USA".
In 2011, Die Kreuzen was inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry
(WAMI) Hall of Fame. In their acceptance speech, they named a handful of current artists that they thought deserved consideration: IfIHadAHiFi
, Northless, the Zebras, and Zola Jesus
.
band but took in elements of heavy metal
, gothic rock
, shoegaze and alternative rock
. They have been described as "anticipating the grunge rock sound of the '90s" and were credited with bringing intelligence and lyrical diversity to the heavy metal genre. In 1986, Robert Palmer of the New York Times described Die Kreuzen as "one of the new bands recasting the legacy of 70's Gothic-metal (Black Sabbath
, etc.) for this modern age".
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
which was formed in 1981. The name is broken German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "the crosses", and was picked up by the band from a German Bible. They began as a hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
group and rapidly became a source of inspiration for a wide range of alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
musicians, including Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
, Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore and alternative rock band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995. Formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis following the breakup of their band Pitchfork, the band's lineup also included bassist Mike Kennedy and...
, Alice In Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
, and Neurosis
Neurosis
Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
.
History
The band had originally been called The Stellas. The band consisted of Dan Kubinski on vocals, Brian Egeness on guitar, Keith Brammer on bass guitar, and Erik Tunison on drums.After contributing tracks to the Charred Remains and The Master Tape compilations, the band's debut release was the Cows and Beer EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
. The band's 21-song eponymous debut album was released in 1984, and included new versions of the tracks from Cows and Beer. The 1986 follow-up, October File, saw the band move away from hardcore into slower, more conceptual work. Third album Century Days (1988) saw the band incorporate piano and a horn section.
In 1989, as a side project, Brammer joined the band Wreck
Wreck (band)
Wreck was an indie rock band formed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1988, and later based in Chicago. After releasing three albums the band split up in the mid-1990s, with singer/guitarist Dean Schlabowske going on to join The Waco Brothers.-History:...
. Other members worked on side projects including Kubinski and Egeness's Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...
tribute band Chick Treat. On April 1, 1992, Egeness left the band. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the band members formed the band Chainfall, along with guitarist Charles Jordan (of S.O.D.A and Nerve Twins). Kubinski and Tunison later played in Fuckface, while Brammer played with the Carnival Strippers. Kubinski went on to form a new band, Custom Grand. Kubinski now plays in Decapitado. Egeness has composed scores for the movies The Astonished Man (2008), Wake Before I Die (2011), and The Weather Outside (2011).
The majority of their records were produced by future Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
and Smashing Pumpkins producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
. All of their records, with the exception of their first 7" on Version Sound, were released by the Chicago record label, Touch & Go Records.
In 2005, a tribute to Die Kreuzen was released, Lean Into It - A Tribute to Die Kreuzen, featuring covers of Die Kreuzen songs by Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
, Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
, Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
, Season to Risk
Season to Risk
Season to Risk are a Noise Rock/Alternative Rock collective hailing from Kansas City, Missouri.-History:Season to Risk formed in late 1989 from the ashes of the Kansas City punk bands Nine Lives and Curious George...
, and Vic Bondi
Vic Bondi
Vic Bondi is a singer/songwriter and one of the founding members of political Chicago punk band called Articles of Faith. Bondi was originally a protest singer with decidedly leftist views. He went on to form Alloy, and Jones Very after AoF's demise. At the time of AoF's original breakup Bondi was...
among others. The album features liner notes by Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, who states, "Man, there was a point there when Die Kreuzen were the best band in the USA".
In 2011, Die Kreuzen was inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry
Wisconsin Area Music Industry
Wisconsin Area Music Industry is an American volunteer organization founded in 1980, and based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its stated purpose is "to educate and recognize the achievements and accomplishments of individuals in the Wisconsin music industry." The organization is best known for its...
(WAMI) Hall of Fame. In their acceptance speech, they named a handful of current artists that they thought deserved consideration: IfIHadAHiFi
Ifihadahifi
- History :The group originally formed in Central Wisconsin in 2000, following the breakup of their previous band, The Pop Machine. Each member took a palindrome as a pseudonym: Dr. Awkward , Mr. Alarm and Yale Delay . All three founding members share vocals...
, Northless, the Zebras, and Zola Jesus
Zola jesus
Zola Jesus is the stage name of Russian American singer/songwriter Nika Roza Danilova . Having released three EPs and two full-length albums, combining industrial, classical, electronic, goth and experimental rock influences, she received generally good reviews and was regarded as one of the names...
.
Musical style
The band were initially a hardcore punkHardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band but took in elements of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
, shoegaze and alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
. They have been described as "anticipating the grunge rock sound of the '90s" and were credited with bringing intelligence and lyrical diversity to the heavy metal genre. In 1986, Robert Palmer of the New York Times described Die Kreuzen as "one of the new bands recasting the legacy of 70's Gothic-metal (Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, etc.) for this modern age".
Albums
- Die Kreuzen (1984)
- October File (1986, CD included first album)
- Century Days (1988)
- Gone Away (1989, EP)
- Cement (1990)
- Internal (1993) (promo-only)
7" singles
- "Cows & Beer" (1982) (Reissued in 2007)
- "Gone Away"/"Different ways" (live) (1989)
- "Pink FlagPink FlagPink Flag is the first album by the band Wire, released in 1977. Upon its release, Robert Christgau called it a "punk suite" and praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to but "much grimmer and more frightening" than the Ramones...
"/"Land of Treason" (1990) - "Big Bad Days"/"Gone Away" (acoustic) (1991)
Compilation appearances
- Charred Remains compilation tape (1981, Version Sound): "Pain", "Hate Me"
- The Master Tape LP (1982, Affirmation): "On the Street", "All White", "Fighting"
- America's Dairyland tape (1983, Last Rites): "Think For Me", "Enemies", "Rumors"
- Code Blue tape (1984, Last Rites): "Fuck Up", "Live Wire", "Champs"
External links
- Die Kreuzen's Official MySpace Page
- Die Kreuzen's Official Page at Touch and Go Records
- "Counting Cracks" The Die Kreuzen Online Archive Site
- Brian Egeness's Official website
- Brian Egeness on IMDB
- Decapitado official website
- American Hardcore - A film which features early footage of the band.
- Interview with bassist Keith Brammer at Perfect Sound ForeverPerfect Sound Forever (magazine)Perfect Sound Forever is one of the longest-running online-only music magazines . Along with Michael Goldberg's Addicted to Noise Perfect Sound Forever (est. 1995) is one of the longest-running online-only music magazines . Along with Michael Goldberg's Addicted to Noise Perfect Sound Forever...
- Albini, Steve (1986) "DIE KREUZEN: PUTTING WITH POTATOES" (interview), Forced ExposureForced ExposureForced Exposure was an independent music magazine published sporadically out of Massachusetts from the early-'80s to 1993, edited by Jimmy Johnson and Byron Coley. It was printed on cheap newsprint with plain design and filled with corrosive yet humorous writing...
, Issue #10 - Trofobya, Klaus "Die Kreuzen Review", Head Heritage