LIFT TO EXPERIENCE 

2001 NOISE-ROCK/POST-ROCK/SHOEGAZE

The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads is the one and only album by three Texas boys and their Texas rock band Lift To Experience. The first interaction most listeners will have with The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads will have nothing to do with listening at all. The reason I and so many others gave it its first spin is, and this is an understatement, the gaudy album art. At immediate glance it appears to be the unholy union of shitty bling era hip hop and Christian country. Closer inspection invites even more confusion, the border of olive wreath, the Star of David and the Islamic Crescent and Star in the bottom corners. The band’s photo, classic cowboy fashion and washed out color, but they look much too cool to be dropping deep fried country rap. And indeed they are, with a sound that is reminiscent of a few nineties rock trends, namely post-rock, noise-rock, and shoegaze, but then there’s the religious symbols and the very title of the record; while not entirely incongruous, the stylings of hip underground rock mixed with Abrahamic ideas is highly unusual. Well, wouldn’t you know it’s a concept album about The Second Coming of Christ taking place in the proud state of Texas. But wait there’s more, the singer is extremely excellent by anyone’s standard, a real dead ringer for Jeff Buckley.

As you can imagine The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads is a pretty unique experience, but the tunes themselves are far from perfect, still, I find myself returning to and thinking of it regularly. Much more than other works on the same level from a pure quality of music standpoint, much credit to the one-of-a-kind premise. The scripture begins with Just As Was Told; a multi-faceted epic with our protagonist detailing the Angel of The Lord descending upon this front porch in Texas. The exchange that follows sets the stage for the whole experience.

You know the time is drawin’ nigh when the sun shall be lifted on high
We told them that didn’t sound very Sunday-go-ta-meetin
“What do you expect?” they said
“When God calls the crippled deaf and blind to lead the children of Israel to the promised land”
“The children of Israel?” we asked
“Don’t you boys know nothing? – The USA’s the center of Jerusalem.”

An unlikely scenario, but hey the bible belt is known for its rigid Christianity, the USA is indeed the center of Jerusalem. Absurd, humorous, and yet highly captivating. Suddenly a train barrels by and the guitar and drums come colliding. Equal parts raw exhilaration and angelic beauty, which is a constant feature of the record. The roaring repetition of “Just as was told, justice will unfold” near what sounds like the song’s finish is terrific, as was implied it is not the end as we are met by our consistent track companion, the of warbling guitar feedback instrumental outro. It’s like an artsy film that holds on shots for several seconds longer than is necessary, sometimes it’s well earned and atmospheric, other times its boring filler that makes you check how much time is left on the track before it gets back to the good stuff.

On this first occasion it is thankfully the former and glides us into the next track, Down Came The Angels. A minimalist piece that leaves room for our story teller to prattle on about the Three Wise Men visiting them, it lacks charm and isn’t pretty enough to justify its near six minute existence, although I enjoy the allusion of the wise men following the star e.g. the Lone Star State. We are set back on the righteous path of rock with Falling From Cloud 9, a major highlight that maintains the grandiosity of a post-rock climax for most of its playtime but with enough quiet moments to form a well-rounded dish. The elongated notes on the chorus when he sings out “cloud nine” are incredibly satisfying. With Crippled Wings is a building slow burner with terrific lyrics and vocal harmonies. 

From Athens to London to Paris to Rome
The stars are gonna shine
From here to Palestine
When the angels take flight
Deep from the heart of the dark Texas night

The quality doesn’t quit when the mix rises to just beneath a boil on the third verse, but just as the track bows out we are met with one of the aforementioned outros, a nearly four minute long patience tester that meanders aimlessly. Doesn’t even transition to the next track well with all that time, Waiting To Hit is an awfully appropriate name in this drudgery. It bursts through the drone with the best impression of a single the band can muster, managing to be catchy and incredibly wordy, a testament to the level of songwriting. The strings give the last mountainous crescendo that extra oomph through the thick wall of distorted guitars which up until now has been mustering peaks with help of only percussion and bass. 

Just a stupid ranch hand in a Texas rock band
Trying to understand God’s master plan

The number of quotables is too damn high, and as much as I would like to point out all the gems the listener needs to dig in themselves. The Ground So Soft delivers a slow and mournful gospel, first atop tumult then with gorgeous layered vocals, the noise returns for a couple minutes at the tracks end and as with other of the outros it accomplishes little besides generating sonic fatigue. These Are The Days starts off sounding like serious single material with a bouncy ascending guitar, a furious breakdown, and chorus containing the title. Highly enjoyable but as you should expect at this point, we are meet with an extended abrasive instrumental, the mild progressions and additional texture provided by rolling train samples make this one more engaging, still it leads to nothing, standing awkwardly on the back of a regular-ass three and a half minute track saying “Hi, I’m the pretentious soundscape”. At least the next track, When We Shall Touch, does not repeat these sins, and yet it’s the worst in the listing. A gentle build leads a sermon read directly from Paradise Lost, there is no rock and roll or Texas twist. The singer stuffs barely intelligible lines into the flow of the song haphazardly. It simply does not work in the slightest.

The established formula is screwed with once more on Down With The Prophets which swaps out the soaring angels on wings with an acoustic guitar among the masses, this direction has potential but the whole track is six feet deep down a reverb hole, it’s like it was recorded then played back through a pillow. The lyrics deserve more than this but it’s difficult to pay attention when given a miserable one track head cold. As if by miracle, the clouds part revealing a clear mix, pensive guitars and the sun shining upon our storyteller for To Guard And To Guide You. It’s more of the same of the best showings but I’ll gladly take it, the chorus is especially spectacular as the instrumentation makes way for a pristine performance that is among the records finest.

Naturally at the end of an American tale of the return of the Lord there is the great rapture and this one is titled, Into The Storm. A winding path of boring instrumentals and lackluster poetics. The ending goes for redemption rather than fire and brimstone as the phrase “We Shall Be Free” is repeated to heartening effect but it’s followed by another direct reading of obvious material of inspiration. It doesn’t take a genius to notice that track seven’s title and lyrical content are derived from this piece. I already got that the band was a fan. It doesn’t come off as having reverence for the source but rather lazy recitation and then the song goes into fourteen minutes of silence followed by a “hidden” track. Just pretend that last idiotic endeavor is nonexistent, the closer ends at the approximately the ten minute mark, not the patience testing twenty-nine. The finish is sour and with the prospect of revisiting the over hour long journey it can easily taint an opinion, go back to it, soak in its reverb, its godliness.

When the Lord said “Son! Tell the world before it explodes
The glory of The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads.”

And so I shall. The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads is a cult hit that never hit, a concept and construction so eccentric yet so familiar that it is hard to believe that indie kids aren’t flashing the cover to their friends saying “take a look at this shit, now wait till you hear it”. It is a patience tester at times and unpolished all the time, really though the worst thing about it is either that a debut this ambitious has no sequel or that it hasn’t reached a wider audience. Good albums always conjure the feeling that out there, somewhere, are people looking for it, that this is their life changing record that will truly speak to them, and The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads feels like that doubly so. Here’s hoping that those souls are one day delivered to the promised land.

7/10

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