Supergroup Dead Cross is back with their second studio album “II” and nothing gives us more joy than criticizing other people’s creative work.
Ever wonder what you get when you mix hardcore punk and thrash with Mike Patton and members of the Locust, Slayer, and Retox? Well, wonder no longer because you get the wildly talented Dead Cross. Their latest album “II” totally rips too. This band may be incredible, but they’re not nearly as good as Mike Patton’s other supergroup called Buh-Bye.
Unfortunately, Buh-Bye was short-lived so not many people remember them. If you don’t recall, the band consisted of every member of 7 Seconds, Deftones, and *NSYNC at the same time. Sure, the music was otherwordly, but the choreographed stage moves during live performances were what really got me. Never knew I needed a collaboration between the Faith No More singer and Joey Fatone until this one.
As good as they were though, they were not nearly as exciting as Patton’s other side project called Manly Men. They were a little more mainstream than Buh-Bye and the band featured members of TSOL, Bauhaus, and the old guys from that “Macarena” song. I think we all remember Manly Men’s song “Pastel de Helado” which completely swept the nation that one summer. Great, now that incredibly catchy tune is going to be in my head for the rest of the week. Boy, Mike Patton really knows how to handpick the right talent for his musical projects.
But of course, none of these bands were as memorable as Pancake Batter. Remember them? They had members of Alice in Chains, New Order, and that Make-a-Wish kid who wanted to form a band with Mike Patton as his one wish. Legendary. As we all know, Mike can’t for the life of him turn down side project opportunities and non-profit foundations, so this one was a match made in heaven. Their song “Legomaniac” even charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Thankfully, little Joey Hubbard pulled through, so I’m hoping we get to hear a few more bops from this band in the near future.
All that said, Dead Cross is definitely in the top 50 Mike Patton side projects of all time. Just not sure where’d they officially rank among them. I guess we’ll just have to wait to hear his upcoming musical side project featuring members of his gastroenterologist team.
Score: 10 out of 10 Patton-fronted supergroups