Hot Cross was a

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. They were signed to Hope Division Records and

Equal Vision Records Equal Vision Records is an independent record label based in Albany, New York. It was founded in the early 1990s by Ray Cappo, the singer for the punk bands Youth of Today, Shelter, and Better Than a Thousand. Initially, the label existed sol ...

. The band was composed of former members of such bands as

Saetia Saetia (pronounced ''SAY-shuh'') is a New York City-based screamo band. While relatively unknown during their initial existence, the band is now seen as one of the most critically lauded bands of the late-1990s screamo scene. History 1997� ...

(vocalist

Billy Werner Billy Werner is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and DJ. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the post-hardcore bands Saetia and Hot Cross. Background Raised in Queens, New York, Werner earned an undergraduate degree at New York Un ...

and drummer Greg Drudy, who was also a founding member and the original drummer of post-punkers

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

), Off Minor (bassist/guitarist Matt Smith), You and I (guitarist Casey Boland),

Neil Perry Neil Arthur Perry Order of Australia, AM is an Australian chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter. He also is the co-ordinator for Qantas Flight Catering under his company Rockpool Consulting. Early life and education Perry was b ...

, The Now and Joshua fit for Battle (bassist/guitarist Josh Jakubowski).

Style

Their songs are composed of intricate (and in the beginning of their career, dueling) guitars heavily influenced by

Drive Like Jehu Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995 and later from 2014 to 2016. It was formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis, ex-members of the band Pitchfor ...

. They initially signed with Level Plane in 2003.

History

Hot Cross formed in 2000. They released their debut EP ''A New Set of Lungs'' in 2001. They released their debut album ''Cryonics'' in 2003. They released their second full-length album ''Risk Revival'' in 2007. They released their second EP ''Fair Trades & Farewells'' in 2004. On May 2, 2006, Hot Cross announced that they had signed to Hope Division/

and would be releasing their next full length on this label. On August 10, 2006, the band announced on their website that they would be re-recording their CD originally recorded by Mike Hill. The album was recorded by former Hot Cross member Josh Jakubowski. On July 7, 2007, the band announced on their MySpace that they were "indefinitely inactive," effectively ending their 7 years together and cutting their 2007 tour short. Bassist Matt Smith is currently involved with a project called Halo of Snakes. They are scheduled to release a record on Harvcore. Casey Boland and Josh Jakubowski began a new project called Vista Rhymes.https://vistarhymes.bandcamp.com/album/vr-1 Vista Rhymes Their first album VR:1 was made available via streaming in 2022.

Members

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

*Josh Jakubowski –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Casey Boland –

*Matt Smith –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Greg Drudy –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''Cryonics'' (2003) *''Risk Revival'' (2007)

EPs

*''A New Set of Lungs'' (2001) *''Fair Trades & Farewells'' (2004)

Splits

*Split with Light the Fuse and Run (2003) (Songs: 1. "The Eye Is A Tricky Machine", 2. "In Memory Of Movern") *Split with Lickgoldensky (2004) (Songs: 1. "A Voice Turned Vacant", 2. "Patience And Prudence") *Split with The Holy Shroud (2005) (Songs: 1. "Tacoma")

References

External links

Official site
*

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

br>Interview with Billy from 2011 about post-Hot Cross life
* ttp://underthevolcano.net/article.php?content=issue96/f_hotcross.html An interview with Billy from Hot Cross from Under the Volcano issue 96
Hot Cross lyricsHot Cross Interview at REDEFINE Magazine, March 2007Billy Werner talks about Hot Cross, ''Risk Revival,'' Saetia with Punknews.org
{{Authority control American screamo musical groups Musical groups from Philadelphia Equal Vision Records artists Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Level Plane Records artists Emo musical groups from Pennsylvania