Lee AdcockI’ve never told Jake Crimmins how much I love when he sings. Yeah, that’s a dumb opening sentence for an objective album review. But you know how it goes—people reveal pieces of their puzzled self on the mic that you never get to see anywhere else, or maybe you’ve only glimpsed the tip of through casual dialogue. So when the fuller picture—not complete, mind—bursts into the spotlight, you’re always stunned. Whenever Crimmins plays under the moniker of Crosstalk—often alone on guitar, but sometimes with pals—I feel like I’m witnessing something of a spiritual purge, an unwinding of guts that the self-selected outsider can’t communicate any other way. But he’s always on the quiet side.
So Arrive Alive, the Atlanta native’s debut album, magnifies that outside of himself. It’s the kind of ciphered text that the best underground poets can share, full of the codes and signals passed between scribes. When the lone bass line for opener “Ether” rolls in, you can hear Crimmins’ love for Galaxie 500 and the slow burn that often doesn’t leave a scar until much later in life. “Chasm” airs out existential questions within a deceptive jangle, like one of Crimmins’ other heroes Vic Chesnutt. “There’s a chasm in the sky, but no one ever questions why,” he says, a testament to the time he’s spent alone pondering how things work.
Granted, I say “codes,” but great indie rock singer-songwriters also spit out directly what hurts. With his signature self-deprecating wit, Crimmins and his crew deliver some sweet Pavement-esque moments that resonate with a familiar world wariness, like the full-tilt chorus of “Options”: “I wait for options / not for problems / guess which one comes through.” The real heart-jerker, though, falls on “Coming to Terms,” where Crimmins shifts from a deliberate strum to a grungy throb; if Crosstalk ever garnered any degree of fame, then here’s where crowds would belt their throats out in solidarity, a unified reckoning.
But while Arrive Alive has the tunes and the charms that could settle in among your other cult faves, this phase of Crosstalk has already faded. The entire album came together nearly two years ago; since then, drummer Amy Dala has moved out of town, and bassist Jon Williams has been busy with beloved scenesters Michael Cera Palin (another band on the brink of dissolution, but that’s another story). As for Crimmins, he’s thrown his weight lately into post-punk nice guys Feverest, who by now have matured into a solid killing machine in the local gig circuit.
So for the time being, Arrive Alive might be the only full Crosstalk document we get. And that’s a shame, because the way that Crimmins opens himself up here speaks to more than just his intuitive grasp of indie rock. He’s still definitely a puzzle with a few missing pieces, and that’s exactly why you can relate; through Crosstalk, he readily shares the gaps.
More Info
Bandcamp: crosstalk1.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @crosstalkatl