Ode is a five piece group made out of sticks, strings and memories that stare at them from the past, like sling shots, drawn back, ready to let go any time something goes wrong. But they stick together, bass or no bass, rent or no rent, slowly but surely they are mistaken for a gypsy ensemble that plays rock’n’roll- punk and Bolero ballads, maintaining that yearning and earning just enough so they don’t burst in tears when they are exposed to clean cut jib jab joints and late night star dusting. Ode share their dark poems and dreams through an authentic rock vibe, a familiar, yet new wave of melodious tunes that creates a blend of Chicago rock music.

It’s not hard to believe that The Great Crusades have been a band for more than 10 years and have seven albums to their name as well as a career retrospective DVD (Key to the City). The band members’ friendships lie at the heart of why The Great Crusades is still a viable, prolific band in 2010. On the other hand, some might say the band is still together only because it took this long to make its best album yet, Fiction to Shame.

Regardless, the personal history of the band is at least partly responsible for its longevity. Although The Great Crusades was formed in Champaign, Illinois, by vocalist/guitarist Brian Krumm in 1996, the current lineup of the band has been together since 1998. The band members have also known each other most of their lives at this point.

Krumm, bassist Brian Hunt, and drummer Christian Moder went to grade school and high school (and played in bands together) in the St. Louis suburb of Collinsville, Illinois. Hunt and Krumm met Brian Leach, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist, in 1989 in Champaign. Somehow, all four band members ended up in Chicago in 1998, and they’ve managed to stay together and make great music together to this day.

The first Great Crusades album, The First Spilled Drink of the Evening, was released by Mud Records in 1997, and its sound and lyrics quickly created a cult following for the band. Rolling Stone’s David Fricke wrote, “The Great Crusades look at life through a shot-glass lens…mixing anger, muscle, and minor-key remorse like a roughneck Tindersticks with the bonus of a singer (Krumm) who’s got the tubercular pipes of Tom Waits and Axl Rose’s love child.” The album was reissued in Europe in 1998 by the German indie Trocadero Records, and the first of many European tours followed.

Damaged Goods was released by the venerated German label, Glitterhouse Records, in 2000, and by Checkered Past Records in the U.S. The critical accolades kept coming with praise from European and American press alike. Never Go Home (2002) earned 4 stars from Rolling Stone (Germany) and saw the band reach a higher public profile when a tour of Germany, Austria, and Croatia was presented by Musikexpress magazine. In 2003, the band gained even more exposure as part of their appearance on the celebrated German television program, Rockpalast.

Welcome to the Hiawatha Inn (2004), Four Thirty (2006), and Keep Them Entertained (2007) followed, each featuring a fresh approach to the band’s sound. The band continued to expand its fan base and further build its reputation as one of the most engaging, wildest live bands in the business. Along the way, the band shared the stage with a very diverse list of artists, including Gary Moore, Scorpions, 16 Horsepower, Broken Social Scene, Bottle Rockets, Steve Wynn, and Leningrad Cowboys.

Now, with Fiction to Shame, the band is poised to introduce yet another creative direction to its dedicated following. Written and recorded live simultaneously, this album includes some of the band’s most unique-sounding yet accessible songs to this point. Most importantly, however, at the heart of the record lies the sound of four great, lifelong friends making music together as they have for more than a decade.

Releasing their first single “Insect Songs” and having their debut appearances in Berlin and Paris, the band soon established their own view of independent music philosophy. Apart from commercial music business they found their freedom in form and content on the small label Tank Records. Their debut album “How I Lost My Fear of Flying” soon became a classic, containing songs like “Heroine”, “In A Sleep” and “Picking Flowers On The Moon”. The following album “Flying Home”, that was reissued in 2007, shows them keen on making new experiences with songs like “I Gotta Run, Babe (Robert Hanssen)” and metaphoric anti-love song “Fascist Heart” which is more related to a timeless film noire style than to anything that is en vogue. Their third album “Ruby Light Shine” that especially elated the French music press contains the great “Something Beautiful”, “Free Like Houdini” and “Electric Star”. French magazine CROSSROADS ranks the PLANEAUSTERS among bands like dEUs, Dead Man Ray or Venus as one of the best and most interesting current European independent groups. The self-sufficient three-man band PLANEAUSTERS stand out with a weightless Independent Rock. The sometimes rough and archaic arrangements create a very own hypnotic tension. Their latest album “Nothing Cooked Up, Everything Cooked Up” that has been released in 2007 receives great feedback. Mike Scott from The Waterboys invited them to open for their “Book of Lightning”-Tour in Germany and Switzerland. In 2009 Planeausters performed in the U.S. for the first time and recorded new songs in Chicago. /

Mit ihrer ersten Single, die mittlerweile nach der 2. Auflage vergriffen ist, hatten Planeausters in Berlin und Paris ihre Live-Debuts und entwickelten schnell ihre eigene Auslegung einer Indie-Philosophie. Öffentlichkeitsscheu und introvertiert fanden sie Zuflucht bei Tank Records – einem Label, das ihnen absolute künstlerische Freiheiten bot. Ihr Debutalbum „How I Lost My Fear of Flying“ wurde vor allem mit Songs wie „Heroine”, “In A Sleep” und “Picking Flowers On The Moon” zum Klassiker. Das nächste Album “Flying Home”, welches nach einer Auflage von 2000 Stück vergriffen ist und 2007 wiederveröffentlicht wurde, zeigt sie experimentierfreudig, was sich vor allem in Songs wie “I Gotta Run, Babe (Robert Hanssen)” oder “Fascist Heart” niederschlägt. Ihre Nähe zu einem zeitlosen Film Noire Rock-Stil wird kennzeichnend für ihre Musik. Ihr drittes Album „Ruby Light Shine“, das besonders die französische Musikpresse begeisterte enthält unter anderem die großartigen Stücke „Something Beautiful“, „Free Like Houdini“ und „Electric Star“. Das Musikmagazin CROSSROADS aus Paris zählt sie in einem Zug mit dEUs, Dead Man Ray und Venus zu einer der zur Zeit besten und interessantesten europäischen Independent-Gruppen und widmete ihnen zum Anlass ihres neuen Albums “Nothing Cooked Up, Everything Cooked Up” einen mehrseitigen Beitrag (07/2007). Eine CD, die man sich nach den Worten des CROSSROADS-Redakteurs Phillipe Ross “…mit allen Mitteln beschaffen muss!” Mike Scott von den Waterboys hat sie auf ihre Deutschland- und Schweiz-Tour eingeladen. Im Jahr 2009 gaben die Planeausters ihr Konzert-Debut in den U.S.A. und nahmen neue Songs in Chicago auf.