Exclusive Premiere: Desert-Rock Pioneer Crumpler Explores Love’s ‘Perpetual Mystery’ on New Song, Video With Califone Founder
Smooshing together desert-rock fuzz and surf-rock licks like peanut butter and jelly, the sandwich that Jacob Floyd Ross’ Crumpler project delivers in the form of Evolution Is for Lovers is a throwback to a more innocent and less drug-fueled era dominated by bands like Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, who ascended to the rock throne in California’s Palm Desert in the mid-’90s.
Crumpler, effectively a one-man project, actually originated in Chicago after Kyuss issued their debut, Wretch, in September 1991. Crumpler’s first release, the cassette-only Stramonium – an original score for Tom Kiehfuss’ play Stramonium: A Search for Grace – didn’t come out until four years later, at which point Ross formally established his project. Meanwhile, Kyuss guitarist Homme incepted QOTSA shortly thereafter in California’s Palm Desert and propelled the desert-rock sound into the mainstream. Ross went in a different direction, intending for Crumpler to serve as a generator (so to speak, for all you desert-rock fans) to make scores for films and theatrical productions.
That said, Crumpler’s many records are available on the project’s Bandcamp page. His most recent release is Evolution Is for Lovers, which came out digitally in June 2025 but will see a vinyl release on October 23. Ross, who currently resides in L.A. with his family, has also played with Low Skies, Ribbon Effect, The Warmbloods, Man Is Man and Judson Claiborne.
Something of an everyman, Ross is a self-taught recorder and mixer of music. After moving from Dallas to Chicago, he became an engineer, then a studio manager, and later entered the world of studio design.
Two months ago, Crumpler re-emerged with a backing band in tow and the first single for Evolution Is for Lovers, “The Cowboy Taliban Took My Daddy Away.” Ross rolled it out on the website for his Beltway mixing studio, which is located in L.A. His band includes musicians who have collaborated with Mavis Staples, Bobby Conn and Lumpy & the Dumpers.
Today, The Bad Penny exclusively (and excitedly) brings you the third and final single from Evolution Is for Lovers, “Last Time Last Night.” The tune features revered indie-rocker Tim Rutili, who founded Red Red Meat and Califone (and also had membership in Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock’s side project, Ugly Casanova).
Check out the new clip:
” ‘Last Time Last Night’ is one of my many songs built on the heartbreaking importance of relationships,” Ross exclusively told The Bad Penny. “Who we love and how we love is the very foundation of survival and meaning in our lives. Therefore, songs about relationships are an ancient art form, and I always strive to bring something fresh to this essential legacy.
“One of the most challenging moments in relationships is knowing when to let go,” Ross continued. “Since they are definitive parts of our identity, it can be hard to let go after a relationship has run its course, and you are no longer synchronized. And it can be exponentially confusing when you find yourselves being more honest with each other during the breakup conversations than you had been in the day to day. That moment of clarity together can make you think that maybe y’all do have what it takes to be in blissfully balanced love again. Then you fall back into dysfunctional confusion and repeat the process until you finally reach a breaking point.”
Ross concluded: “Another element that can make broken relationships linger on longer than they should is because we crave resolution. But the fact of the matter is that some relationship malfunctions can never be resolved. Sometimes the ‘reason’ or the ‘answer’ to a troubling relationship remains forever elusive, and therefore it must remain a perpetual mystery in order for you to move on, grow up, and find your own healthy stride.”
For more on Crumpler and Ross, hop over to his aforementioned website or his band’s YouTube channel.
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