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Stealing my religion
By Billy Schear
wschear@mscd.edu

By Billy Schear • wschear@mscd.edu I am not a crook. Okay, we really are. The Crooks, from left: Chris Dodge, Josh Hochom, Cameron Gill and Dan Cordova.

Battering and bruising every aspect of religion and faith, The Crooks ensure no act of heresy will be expunged from their record.

If one were to look, they would find The Crooks is a common handle for musical ensembles. No less than 29 occupy MySpace.com, coming from places as far away as the Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom. However, only one of them calls Denver its home and has a singer who attends Metro. What they lack in an original moniker, they make up for in passion and top-tier vocals, both apparent on their recently recorded demo Unholy 3, which can be heard in its entirety on the band’s MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/wearethecrooks.

The Crooks, consisting of Cameron Gill, Josh Hochom, Dan Cordova and Chris Dodge, refuse to hide behind a shadow of heavy distortion. Instead, they let the jangly guitar riffs and sporadic drumbeats assault you with raw potency while the singing hijacks your eardrums with a free-flowing emotional cascade. Though a tad under-produced, The Crooks’ recordings are a clear indication that alternative rock isn’t just a generic term, but an all-encompassing banner of self-motivated expression.

Unholy 3 isn’t just a clever title for a three-song EP; it’s a nod to the band’s perspective on religion and a tribute to a 1930 film-noir classic with the same title.

“The movie is essentially about three crooks from a carnival, the leader of which is a con man,” lead singer Chris Dodge said. “This illustrates my views on organized religion and how the subject plays out in our music. Also, the film is in black and white, which says a lot in itself. It’s simple, no grey, the plain truth, which is the center of this band.”

Artistry is of the utmost importance when approaching the song-writing process, Dodge said.

“I don’t feel I have to actively seek inspiration. As an artist, my muse comes from within,” he said. “The other guys trust my intuitions and I, theirs. They believe in me as a leader, so even if they don’t always agree with the message, it still stands.”

Though more as commentary than persuasion, Dodge injects his atheism into every song the band performs. For instance, “The Ms Understood” addresses the United States as a whole and how religion affects its people, from the fanatical beliefs of the president on down to those of the average parishioner. The views expressed in their music are a culmination of years of religious study and personal experiences within the church community.

“I sing about what’s affected me. Spending my early years in a strict Seventh Day Adventist school has set the tone of my outlook on religion for life,” Dodge said. “The experiences I had while attending that school still fuel many of my songs to this day.”

Despite their resistance to conventional religion, the Crooks find divine inspiration elsewhere.

“To me, my life is my religion. The relationships I’ve forged and the music I create are no less important than church is to a devout Catholic,” he said.

On the Unholy 3, for example, “Goodbye” tells the tale of a doomed long-distance relationship, the end of which caused an agonizing questioning of faith. “December 26th” gives a glimpse of modern-day idol worship in the form of a chance encounter with a beautiful young woman who drifts out of the songwriter’s life just as quickly as she enters, causing an obsession that will never be requited, as the two will likely never cross paths again.

With 15 shows to their credit, The Crooks look forward to broadening their audience with more gigs and anticipate the release of more recordings in the near future. Their incentive is merely to create. So far, they have been content to accomplish every goal they have set for themselves.

“Everything we’ve done has been a success,” Dodge said. “If the world ends tomorrow, we would have considered ourselves successful.”