With the return of The Descendants and others, old school punk is getting some new life breathed into it. One of the bigger sources of air is definitely Crux, whose major label (well, however "major" Tooth and Nail is) debut Failure To Yield became an underground favorite. Oh my gosh! They're back! Our favorite emo-homie Kurt Morris talked to Crux, and here's what Crux had to say.

What's the current status of Crux? Is Andy still in Crux?
Andy's gone. Bob Gossett is here.

What can you tell me about the new album?
16 songs, would've been 17, but the performance on one was not good, so we axed it. It has more variety, and more east coast hardcore style breaks. We go from similar stuff as was on Failure to Yield, to just weird, dark sarcasm, to hyper-melodic vocals against 160 beats per minute punk stuff. This album was more our baby by far than the last. Drew Canulette had put a footprint on Failure, which wasn't bad, but this one is all us, good or bad. It was engineered by Kevin Nettliengham-the guy who edited the last album. He was very easy to work with but left more up to us than Drew did. It will be released early June and it will be titled Cakewalk.

Who influences Crux, lyrically?
Crux influences Crux. I have tried to see everything through the grid of scripture, and I suppose that is evident, but when I write, I ask myself what angers or saddens me and what mood the actual music conveys. Then I try to approach people in a reasoned but passionate way. As for Mike, well he moves in similar ways, but the way he writes is cut and paste, so I son't really know if anything but a concept influences him.

If you could change 3 things in the U.S. as far as politically, what would they be?
It's tough to break it down to a "big three", because there are so many things that are symptoms, like abortion, "gay" rights, etc. I think that the root goes to abandoning interpreting the Constitution on the basis of adherence to law that supersedes us as humans. By that awkward sentence, I mean to say that we originally were a people who understood freedom as a right given us by God himself that every man should be free to do what was right before God: all, as equals. The Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, though not entirely heretical, had forgotten the precepts upon which they were founded, and had become the political machine. Whereas this might not have been bad if this power didn't corrupt, there has never been a man where great power didn't, except Christ, himself.
So, taxation, abortion, euthanasia (or "death with dignity"), crime, corruption, lying, demigouging, the assumption that rights are owed or deserved, are all symptoms of a society that has discarded its moral compass.
If the churches gave all that were needy, and loved one another as they did in the first century, these problems would either stop or be seen as ugly as they truly are.

How do you feel about humanism in modern American society?
Humanism is our society now, and it isn't any different than Israel when they worshipped idols. It's worship of the created. Isn't it strange when you think about it that people actually worshipped wood or metal? It's stranger still that they look in their mirrors every morning, knowing how weak they are, and fallible, and still worship themselves...

What bands have you been listening to lately?
Rush, N.I.V., Sick of it All, Klank, and I got that new Descendents album. Better than I expected.

Touring plans?
Germany for three weeks in May and June.

Have you gotten a lot of crap for your political views considering how liberal of a state Oregon is?
We haven't played in town enough, but we are booking more local shows so as Greg says, "At least we can be hated in our own town". I think if we keep breaking stuff and act tougher than everyone else they will leave us alone.

I think that the video for "Wasted Day" is the best video on the first Tooth & Nail video comp. It rocks. Where did you film that video and what was that experience like?
We went up to Seattle after we all got off work one night to record that song that was on the I'm Your Biggest Fan compilation. And were told that we needed to come up with a "concept", because this film guy was going to show up later. We weren't prepared at all, so we were just stupid. We spent the night at the T&N office, even though Brandon offered his floor (it was hardwood).
Since we didn't know about this, we didn't bring sleeping bags, and stayed up all night, getting into all the file cabinets, messing around with the computers-you know, typical stuff. We even took orders on the phone in the morning even though the offices were closed, and made Brandon get up after 2 hours of sleep and dragged him down to this coffee shop where he bought us 8 triple lattes and endless coffee. He sure put a lot of sugar in his...

Any final comments, questions, or names of politicians that you dislike?
Politics anymore is a career just like anything else, but we still have more control over our own destiny as far as our temporal lives are concerned than we think. We could learn some big lessons from our grandparents about what it means to work, to worship, to sacrifice, to love, and to be free.