Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Cross Culture are a three-piece band from Ohio who have been playing together since 1998. Now, thanks to new record label Selectric Records the band have been placed with Grammy Award winners John & Dino Elefante. The Elefante's touch can be clearly felt from the very first note of the first track, "This Moment In Time", a full-on guitar-based rock anthem! The record is musically well crafted, successfully managing to amalgamate various different musical styles, embracing elements mainly from funk, rock, R&B and Latin traditions and this creates a catchy and lively record. It's easy to understand the appeal of the band playing live as they seem to have a real energy about them and I can imagine they would create quite a scene! The fact that the band has performed alongside Plumb and Relient K gives an indication of the stylistic territory they're in, and I would say that some comparisons could also be made with The Red Hot Chili Peppers in terms of some of the funky but rocky feeling in there, although there really is no stylistic box you could fit much of this into. The one thing that is disappointing is the lack of depth in the lyrics. They seem to be a classic case of crossover lyrics, where the truth can be seen if you look hard enough, but lines such as "Stand up and ride this wave/Don't let it beat you!/This moment is all about this love" and "I need it. I'm on it. I'm gonna do what's right for me" are really rather nebulous. However, this band should do well in my opinion.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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