Is it okay to love and hate your hometown at the same time? Growing up in the Boston Massachusetts suburb Stoughton, Crescent Ridge has struggled with this duality for pretty much their entire lives. While being so influenced by your environment and whole-heartedly hating mostly everyone around you at the same time isn’t totally unique to them, it is a driving factor in the song writing that Crescent Ridge delivers on “Garden of Fools”, their debut LP.
Heading into the studio just nine months following the release of Days End, Crescent Ridge entered New Alliance Audio in Somerville Massachusetts. Only the second time being in the studio as a band, they put their head’s down and got to work over the course of three days. “Writing these songs had started more than a year prior when we were all unemployed and uncertain of what the future would hold. That gave us the opportunity that not a lot of newer bands have when they’re constantly practicing for and playing gigs, which was to write non stop and really gel as a group”, Derek Schepeci (vocals, guitar) says about the writing and recording process. With Chris Johnson (Deafheaven, Dwelley) at the helm of engineering and producing, the band got to work on the soon-to-be 10 song album. “Chris is a total work horse and absolute class act. Being able to bounce ideas off him and his patience with us can’t be over state” [Derek] Schepeci recalls about his time in the studio.
“Stoughton has no home. We’ve never truly fit the mold and I think Crescent Ridge is pretty in line with that”, guitarist Mike Assatly says of playing in a band that is stylistically different than the majority of bands he’s played in previously. “It’s always funny finding your niche, which isn’t necessarily different in this band [Crescent Ridge] compared to my punk/hardcore side” Assatly continues. This rings true when comparing songs like ‘Bleach’ and ‘Big Feeling’. Whether you enjoy Quicksand or The Lemonheads, Crescent Ridge falls somewhere in between.
Everyone has something of their own they bring to the Crescent Ridge table. “It started to feel like it was time to move on and leave it all behind. Being on this side of things has been a good reminder of why I’m still doing this shit and I’m glad it’s with a bunch of Stoughton freaks” Chris Gill (bass), comparing his time spent traveling nationally with bands and playing in Crescent Ridge. “I wanna go full speed for twenty minutes and I want people to feel it when we play”, Gill says on wanting to perform with raw, unfiltered energy. catch your breath before taking the next sharp plunge. ‘Big Feeling’, the upbeat no frills single, keeps the energy high while tracks like ‘Freak Out’ and ‘Suddenly’ both clocking in at nearly five-and-a-half minutes each, keep you guessing what the next move is. In their debut ‘Garden Of Fools’, Crescent Ridge has something to prove and it’s that they are here to stay.



Jim H