Welcome, my dearest gentle reader and music fans across the world. Let us give a very warm welcome to the US band CROSSTOWN. CROSSTOWN is an Indie Rock band headquartered in Los Angeles. The band enjoys creating music with diverse lyrics and ideas that reflect their city and the musicians they collaborate with. On 3rd October, they released a ten-song album called “Rotating Cast”. Allow me to tell you more about each song on this wonderful album.

The opening track of the album is called “Street View From a Dream”. The song opens with a compelling synth-like melody. The character in the song seems to have been separated from his or her partner. Even though the character is now alone, he or she can still feel and see this person whom he or she has been separated from. You can tell that the character is still not over the fact that he or she is now alone. The song portrays the accurate vibe that you get from the fallout of a relationship; it is an adjustment and situation that we have all been in at one point in our lives. The vocal performance was very chilling and just the right tone and melody that goes perfectly with the melody of the song. This song opens up the album in a very captivating and unique way.

The second song is called “Empath Girl”. This song opens in a very upbeat and exciting way that will catch your attention easily. This song portrays a girl who was down-to-earth, gracious, and always willing to help others. The song lets us know that because of how sensitive she is, she might spend all her time helping others and ignore herself. This song is very profound because the world now could use a little more empathy, but, although the song tells us to be selfless, it also encourages us to take time off for self-care care otherwise, we will burn out and can’t help others like we want to. This song is very lively and easy-going. The tempo was accelerated, and the vocal performance was fun to listen to

“Angelyne” is the third song on the record. This song opens with a wild guitar riff that will get your heart thumping excitedly before the drum sound is added. In the song, we meet Angelyne, a superstar who graces all the billboards in Hollywood. The song describes her as a woman with big blonde her and urges, fresh off the boat, residents in Los Angeles who want to be stars to look up to her. I don’t know about you, but Angelyne seems to be the Marilyn Monroe in this song, and I wished so hard that I could meet her. Musically, the melody of the song is very catchy, and I couldn’t help myself, and I soon started to dance to this amazing song, and I’m confident that you will dance too.

“Twelve-dollar hotdogs” is the name of the next song on the record. The song opens with a mournful and glacial melody initially, but the tempo soon picks up thereafter. This song is about the harsh realities of Hollywood. We meet a character who comes into Hollywood with big dreams of becoming a star and being on billboards everywhere but, he soon realized that fame and stardom in Hollywood didn’t come cheap at all, and Hollywood was not as it seemed, he also warns those who have made it, to enjoy their fame and make use of it because, it is fleeting. The vocal performance might be upbeat, but you can still feel traces of disappointment that the band put in the song to help us relate to the character, and this song is yet another amazing song on the record.

Up next is a song titled “Slop”. This song opens with these retro synth pop sounds that create a wonderful melody. This song tackles one of the negative effects of modern technology, doomscrolling. It is when you don’t like what you’re watching, but you can’t help but continue to scroll, even when you have pressing issues that require your immediate attention, like work. Yes, some stuff on our feed is slop, but most times, we keep watching. I think this song is encouraging us to step away from our phones, once in a while. The retro synth pop melody was unique and very impressive. I loved this song, and I know that you will love it and hopefully learn something from it, like getting off TikTok and going to work.

The next song is called “Stacy’s Man”. This song opens with a killer guitar riff that quite literally melted my face off!! This song tells a very interesting story about a person who dated a gorgeous woman called Stacy for a month. He knew Stacy’s reputation as a man-eater, but he still dated her and got his heart broken. The most interesting thing is that Stacy walks into the bar where the song’s persona is drowning his sorrow, with a new man on her arm. But, we find out that the song’s persona is attracted to Stacy’s new man, and he feels the same. Their eyes locked, and the song’s persona really felt special. What a story, the lyrics really made me feel like I was there to see this drama unfold, and let me tell you that it was priceless. Musically, the instrumentation is upbeat, and the vocal performance is catchy and unforgettable.

Up next is the song “Dance FM”. The song opens with a catchy beat and a repetition of the line “dance motherfucker, dance”. I started dancing right there and then. The song lists a couple of things that are supposedly the cure to all the problems in the world, like yelling a swear word in the suburbs. This song encourages us not only to dance but to do one thing that scares us every day, to live life to the fullest, and to take risks. Musically, this song had the beat!, You won’t be able to fight it, and you will soon be dancing like the song is telling you to dance. So, put on your dancing shoes and dance motherfucker, dance!!!

“Moonlight Diver” is the song that follows. The song opens with a dark and dramatic melody that will captivate you instantly. The song is about two characters who are drowning, and as they do, one character asks the other to hold on a little longer till help comes. The mid-tempo song will captivate you there and then.

Up next is “Sloth”. This song opens with an ’80s pop melody that is so fun to listen to. This song once again tells us to sometimes stay away from our devices and live instead of existing. It tells us to hold on to life and see the world instead of just bringing it indoors all day and night, in a prison created by us and our devices. Musically, the instrumentation is smooth, and the relaxed vibe is just what you need to unwind from everything.

The last song on the album is called “Colima Road”. This song opens with a soft and dreamy guitar melody. This song is about overthinking and driving at night. The song brought this softness to the album that it needed, and it was so refreshing to hear. This song ends the album beautifully.

The band’s style is best described as Indie Pop Rock, with elements of New Wave, Indietronica, Pop-Punk, and Alternative R&B. Artists and bands such as Talking Heads, Paramore, Tyler, the Creator, Arctic Monkeys, and MGMT have all inspired the album’s sound. It is the band’s wish that at least one fan connects with it on an emotional level, and they have achieved that perfectly. Every song on this album is a winner, and I connected with every song. I love this band and this album, and I can’t wait to hear more of their music.

Stream the “Rotating Cast” album on Spotify.

Follow CROSSTOWN here and on their socials; Instagram, TikTok, YouTube