Mixtapemotions

  • “Like Steps in a Dance” by Anchor & Braille, Friday, October 21, 2022 (repost)

    Anchor & Braille has been Anberlin‘s lead singer Stephen Christian‘s side project for a while. Some of Anberlin’s songs started out as Anchor & Braille songs. In 2009, Christian collaborated with Aaron Marsh and a few other hometown musicians including Louis DeFabrizio of Gasoline Heart, and released A&B’s debut record Felt, an album that feels as if Christian were the lead singer of Copeland somewhere between their In Motion and Eat, Sleep, Repeat releases. Anchor and Braille’s sound would vary greatly over their occasional four albums as well and the makeup of the ‘band’ would just become Stephen Christian collaborating in the studio with other musicians. You can tell that it’s the same singer of Cities and Never Take Friendship Personal struggling relationships.

    SHE MAKES THREATS I HOPE THAT SHE SEES THROUGH. Felt was an album that appeared in my Junior year of college (one of them 🙂 around a month or so before New Surrender was released. The album was great for studying music. Christian seems to make statements of faith with tracks like “Rust” (The Story of Mary Agnosia), “Introspect,” and “Sleep. When We Die,” and it was fun to see what a less-censored Stephen Christian might say. Ultimately, the album seems to be about loneliness and breakups. Christian seems to lose the ability to write about these subjects in his follow-up The Quiet Life as well as Anberlin’s Dark is the Way, Light Is a Place. Even though Anberlin’s Vital sees an improvement in Christian’s writing, he relies too much on cliches to talk around his subject matter. This is also present on the third Anchor & Braille record, Songs for the Late Night Drive Home.

    SING TO ME EVERY NIGHT AND I’LL MAKE YOU THE HAPPIEST MAN ALIVE. Anchor and Braille performed at Cornerstone in 2011. It was really just Anberlin playing in a tent. Anberlin had played an average show (“Feel Good Drag” as an encore?), headlining the main stage after Blindside had sub-headlined. The band rushed over to a small tent to play Anchor & Braille songs. Christian explained that “Like Steps in a Dance” was the radio hit of the album if the album were to have a radio hit. It’s one of the most fun and accessible songs on the album. Christian doesn’t explore the range of his voice as much on this song. The mechanical beat and the piano and guitar make the song quirky and memorable. As for the lyrics, it’s a veiled toxic relationship. If Christian writes about healthy relationships, he often runs into cliched lyrics. After completing this song and many one or two others, Anchor & Braille finished their set. My sister and I were able to get an autograph of Stephen’s novel The Orphaned Anything’s Memoir of a Lesser Known and we got a picture together. And that was the last time I saw Anberlin/Anchor & Braille in concert. 

    Read “Like Steps In A Dance” by Anchor & Braille on Genius

  • "Layla" by Derek and the Dominos, Thursday, October 19, 2022 (trigger warning: sexual assult)

    In 2011, Rolling Stone named Eric Clapton as the second greatest guitarist of all time–Jimi Hendrix was the first. Coming to prominence in 1963 as the replacement guitarist for The Yardbirds, forming the group Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos, Clapton has started and played with and started a number of bands and took songs from each of his musical eras into his solo career in ’80s and ’90s. In 1970, Clapton joined with three other musicians he worked with in another band, Delaney & Bonnie to form a “make-believe band” called Derek and the Dominos. The band only released one record, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, but the title track became one of Clapton’s signature tunes particularly for its guitar riff. 
    YOU GOT ME ON MY KNEES. Derek and the Dominos formed during recording sessions of former Beatle George Harrison’s third solo record, All Things Must Pass. And that connection between Clapton and Harrison wasn’t the only one. Clapton and Harrison had been friends for years, but were involved in what Alan Light of the New York Times described as “one of the most romantic entanglements in rock’n’roll history.” The entanglement involved model Pattie Boyd, the subject of at least ten songs including several Beatles songs: “Something,” “For You Blue,” “She’s Waiting,” and “I Need You”; several Harrison solo songs, Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight”; and several tracks on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, including the title track. Boyd married Harrison in 1966, but they separated in 1974 and finalized their divorce in 1977. According to Boyd, she decided to separate with Harrison after he cheated on her multiple times, with the breaking point being Harrison cheating with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr’s wife, Maureen. After separating, Boyd moved in with Eric Clapton and was married to him in 1979. Clapton fell in love with Boyd when she was married to Harrison. Clapton briefly dated her sister, Paula, but later turned to heroin.

    NOBODY’S WAITING BY YOUR SIDE? After getting clean, Clapton pursued “Layla” again. Clapton and Boyd married in 1979 after having, by some accounts, a “duel” with Harrison for Boyd. But the marriage was anything but a fairy tale. Both Clapton and Boyd drank too much. Clapton admitted that he abused and even rapped Boyd during their relationship. In 1986, Clapton had a son with Italian model, Lory Del Santo. Meanwhile, Boyd failed to get pregnant, and the Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989. Tragically, Clapton and Del Santo’s son, Connor, died after falling from a window from Clapton’s 53rd story apartment in Manhattan–Clapton penning his heartbreaking hit “Tears in Heaven” from this experience. Personally, the more I read about Clapton, the more problematic I think he is. His legacy is marred with racism, sketchy political views, and sexual abuse, and yet he seems largely immune to scrutiny for two reasons 1) his status in the early days of rock and 2) the sympathy for the death of his son in 1991. “Layla” is my favorite Clapton song. I think the guitar riff is iconic and it reminds me of being a child watching football with my dad–the first time I heard the guitar riff played before a commercial break. And it’s that NFL connection that makes this an autumn song for me. And it’s Thursday night, the night the weeknight game has moved to. But if you don’t wish to support Clapton, feel free to skip this song. He certainly has enough money from over the years. 
    Live:

    Unplugged: 

    Derek and the Dominos version:

  • "good 4 u" by Olivia Rodrigo, Wednesday, October 19, 2022 (repost)

    “My my, hey hey/ Rock ‘n’ Roll is here to stay” declares Neil Young in his 1978 song.  Rock music has had lasting presence in pop culture since the age of Chuck Berry and  Little Richard. Some points in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s the genre took the primary spots on radio charts outside of the genre. However, around the end of the ’00s, Hip Hop decimated the genre. The rock bands left standing, mostly traded their axes for acoustic guitar, keyboards, EDM beats, or Trap rhythms. Much of the rock music was indistinguishable from other genres, and that trend continues into the 2020s. However, just as rock bands cross over to the pop charts, the late 2010s to 2021 is seeing pop singers experiment with rock music. From Miley Cyrus performing with Metallica to rappers like Post Malone and Machine Gun Kelly flirting with emo, some may argue that Rock is seeing a mainstream resurgence. Enter Olivia Rodrigo‘s “good 4 u,” the first guitar-driven song to top the British pop charts for more than four weeks since 2003’s “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence. 

    YOU BOUGHT A NEW CAR AND YOUR CAREER’S REALLY TAKING OFF. Disney Channel star-turned musician Olivia Rodrigo released her debut album Sour back in May this year. The album is one of the biggest of the year for several reasons. Critics loved how self-aware Rodrigo’s lyrics were for the late teenage years. Musically, listeners and critics loved the genre-bending of the songs. Rodrigo was influenced by pop, synth-pop, punk, and metal. The album’s second single, “good 4 u,” taps into the angry girl rock song, popularized in the ’90s by Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette–critics even calling Sour the Jagged Little Pill for Generation Z. While modern “sad girl” music influenced by these ’90s stars, artists like Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Billie Eilish, has tended to avoid heavy guitars and drums as if it were an embarrassing trend, Rodrigo leans into it on “good 4 u.” Many listeners have cited a similarity between Rodrigo’s second chart-topping hit and Paramore‘s breakthrough single, “Misery Business.” Rodrigo admitted to taking the inspiration for parts of the song and eventually gave writing credits to Paramore’s Haley Williams and Zac Farro.

    I’VE SPENT THE NIGHT CRYING ON THE BATHROOM FLOOR. “Good 4 u” captures the grief of the “loser” of a break up. This is in contrast to the “victor” who is doing great with someone new. While some breakups occur completely mutually, but those kind of break ups don’t make good rock songs. Keane‘s “We Might as Well Be Strangers” takes a sad approach of two people who don’t know each other anymore. But in “good 4 u” the listener is either 1) passive aggressively rubbing the speaker’s face in her success or 2) genuinely misses the other person and is even looking for her affirmation. Either way, Rodrigo calls him a “damn sociopath.” Today’s song isn’t  just sour; it’s as spicy a jalapeño. Rodrigo’s hit takes a few jabs at her assumed ex, co-star Joshua Bassett, who reportedly got famous, according to Rodrigo, on the coattails of her success. The lyrics of the song use sarcasm, even including a singing-laugh more commonly heard in musical theater than pop or rock music. Whereas the lyrics are about rage, the video is pure revenge. Some may feel a similarity to the “Misery Business” video. The video shows Rodrigo burning down a house, losing her mind with rage, yet looking cute and pretty all along the way. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.


     

  • “Wait for Me” by Rebecca St. James, Tuesday, October 18, 2022 (trigger warning: purity culture)

     

    Rebecca Jean Smallbown, better known as by her stage name Rebecca St. James, was born in Australia but moved to Nashville, Tennessee, as a teenager in the early ’90s. A year before her family relocated, St. James began her singing career at the age of twelve, opening for Carman on his Australian tour. In America, Smallbone signed a record deal with ForeFront in 1994 taking the name St. James at the label’s request. 

    I KNOW YOU MAY MAKE MISTAKES. Rebecca St. James became one of the biggest CCM singers. Her early records were forged in rock rather than adult contemporary, in a similar vein of the female rockers of the late ’90s like Alanis Morissette and Natalie Imbruglia. But with the turn of the millennium, the popularity of female rock stars declined and electro-pop acts like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera also changed the CCM musical landscape. In 2000, St. James released her fourth record Transform, an album that utilized the synth sounds found in the bubblegum acts of the day. The lead single “Reborn” traded the heavy guitars in her prior two lead singles from her previous records “Pray” and “God” for the pads and programming. But Transform served St. James in softening her sound to be more marketable to adult contemporary. Other than the heavy electronics on the track “Lean On” written with Christian Rock band Earthsuit and the the throwback rock track to her old style “All Around Me,” much of the album is adult contemporary oriented. The album’s second track “Don’t Worry” was a big CCM hit that has St. James sing-talking, telling a cliche story about meeting a friend at a grocery store and explaining how the singer has changed because she met God–St. James was never not a Christian. 

    THERE’S FORGIVENESS AND A SECOND CHANCE. “Wait for Me,” though, became one of Rebecca St. James’ biggest hits. The song is about waiting until marriage to have sex. The lyrics paint a romantic picture about two partners being pulled together by God. The song was popular in the purity culture movement in Evangelical Christianity and St. James even wrote a book about sexual purity. At the time of the song’s release, St. James was 23 years old, and the singer wouldn’t marry until 2011. To this day, the singer talks about her struggles to stick to her convictions even into her 30s until marrying former Foster the People bassist Jacob “Cubbie” Fink, exchanging purity rings because he too “waited until marriage.” To children there are fairy tales of brave princes and beautiful princesses, and to adolescents they told us the fairy tale that God was preparing the right person for me if only I did my best. It’s actually the source of a lot of evangelical trauma. How many evangelical kids grow up to find out that their parents didn’t wait? How many kids that “waited” are now divorced? I dreamed about marrying Rebecca St. James when I was a teenager. I never lusted after her, so that’s great, right? I just thought that God was calling me to fall deeply in love with a sweet girl with a cute Aussie accent. Or maybe Jaci Velasquez. But why did Greg Long‘s piercing eyes cause something that I felt ashamed of. Why did I keep sinning with the Kohl’s catalogue, turning to the men’s underwear or swimwear section? In my 20s, I wondered what I was really waiting for. It started to feel more and more pointless. 

    Purity song parody:

  • “Heathens (remix)” by twenty one pilots x MuteMath, Monday, October 18, 2022 (repost)













    If you’re driving through Columbus, Ohio you can tune your radio to 88.7 and find out where music is going. First hitting the airwaves in 1996, the radio station went worldwide via SkyAngel satellite network. RadioU plays Christian Rock and has been home to artists who would otherwise never hit the radio waves. However, bands often disappear from the playlist over time. This can because the band changed their sound or their message. Artists like the Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, dc talk, Jars of Clay, and Jennifer Knapp were played in the ’90s and first few years of the ’00s, but the listeners didn’t like the direction that those artists took in their later careers. Other groups like Copeland, Mae, and MuteMath started out with RadioU and “got too big,” or at least that was the story. Sometimes they will pick up groups like Thrice, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Paper Route, in the middle of a successful career. 

    TAKE IT SLOW. Partly because of RadioU many bands sprung out of Columbus. Relient K, House of Heroes, Everyday Sunday, and John Ruben are just a few artists from this part of the Buckeye state. However, none are more successful than twenty one pilots. The duo makes Spotify and record sales lists most musicians only dream of. Their fanbase is as devoted to the band like K-pop followers. Known as The Clique, many interpret the lyrics of the songs as a direct message to them. Long time fans even bully new fans on social media and call out those who aren’t true fans. As I talked about last year when I wrote about Mae, there are some cults I just could never follow. However, while I don’t agree with many of Mae‘s musical choices, when I hear twenty one pilots, I wonder WTF is this? Seriously, what are you kids listening to these days? Emo-Rap? What is going on here? I don’t think I can be friends with anyone who loves Imagine Dragons and twenty one pilots. Maybe, but everyone I’ve met who likes these two groups–we’ve had issues. I do invite the challenge. 

    WE DON’T DEAL WITH OUTSIDERS VERY WELL. That being said, “Heathens” is kind of thought-provoking. On a collaboration EP with MuteMate a band of seriously good musicians that never quite lived up to their potential, twenty one pilots re-envision some of their biggest songs up until that point. After the split of Earthsuit, a short-lived New Orleans-based Christian Rock band, vocalist/rapper Paul Meany took about half of the band to MuteMath. The band’s first EP sounded promising, but their debut record was boring. The follow up featured a song on the Twilight soundtrack and the songs were more interesting, but albums after Armistice were lacking–something. Maybe the vocals of Earthsuit’s Adam LaClave? While at times bland, I can’t doubt the musical talent of MuteMath. They add an interesting edge to the “Heathens” (remix).  The word heathens is Christian slang for someone who is an outsider from your group. It’s often said in a joking way about when friends are acting too “worldly.” Sometimes it’s meant to be harshly judgmental, like in the original sense of the word. Lyrically, “Heathens” deals with darker sides of humanity–the reality that we don’t know our own friends well enough to know their true intentions, much less a stranger’s. We want to say, “I knew him. He would never would do that.” Yet time and time again we see the news stories of another “murderer sitting next to you.” Netflix is filled with docu-series of people who never suspected the cold-blooded killer who went to their church or worked in the next cubical. A mild-mannered square who happens to make sarin gas in his basement. Another pastor becomes involved with a sex scandal. Didn’t see that one coming. Rather than deflecting blame and assuming goodness, this song recognizes that “you might be one of us.”
    Original music video:

    Remix:

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • "Last Hope" by Paramore, Sunday, October 16, 2022

    Fleetwood Mac might be the most turbulent rock band in terms of member changes, feuds, and internal relationships going awry because of infidelity. The conflict, lawyers, and affidavits surrounding Paramore, though, feels akin to the ‘70s rock band. In his series Deep Discog Dives, YouTuber Nick Canovas summarized the controversies surrounding Paramore. Perhaps the biggest rift in the band is between former lead guitarist Josh Farro and lead singer Haley Williams. After the band’s third record, Brand New Eyes, Farro publicly expressed his opposition to the lyrical direction Williams was taking the band.

    I DON’T EVEN KNOW MYSELF AT ALL. Like many bands in the pop-punk scene in the ‘00s, Paramore began their career with ties to the Christian Rock scene. Most of the bandmates grew up Christian, and it seemed natural to integrate their beliefs into the band’s lyrics. But by the band’s breakthrough record, their sophomore Riot!, the lyrics shifted away from Christian themes. The band justified the lyrics on their biggest hit, prior to “Ain’t It Fun,” “Misery Business”: “God, doesn’t it feel so good” on top of an already risqué track about early adult sexuality with hints of sexism. With the success of “Misery Business” came a furor with Christian audiences. Christian audiences appreciated the publicity Paramore gave other Christian bands. The band brought Christian bands on tour with them. Williams contributed vocals to Christian Rock bands like The Chariot and mewithoutYou. But the lyric on Brand New Eyes, “The truth never set me free” in the song “Ignorance” caused guitarist Josh Farro and his brother, drummer Zac Farro to quit the band, though Zac eventually rejoined. Upon quitting Paramore, Josh posted a blog post stating of Paramore’s members: “We fought her about how [Hayley’s] lyrics misrepresented our band and what we stood for, but in the end, she got her way.” He also proliferated the rumor that Williams’ direction was due to manipulation by the band’s manager and the label.

    GOTTA LET IT HAPPEN. The “salt in the wound” from losing the band’s guitarist has been the subject of many Paramore songs. “Last Hope” is probably partly about Josh, but also about keeping faith when everything seems so transitory. In 2010, Williams wrote in the band’s live journal about what keeps her grounded. She writes
            [S]ometimes you get run down. sometimes life throws dirt in your eyes and it stings
            and you can’t see for a few minutes. even after you get it out your eyes are all red and
            your vision is shitty… but eventually, whether through tears or maybe just time…  you
            start to see even clearer than before. life is not always good. which is why music exists.
            why [I] believe God exists. and why there’s always a pint of coconut milk ice cream in
            my freezer. 
    It’s nearly impossible to agree on a vision. And with Williams and Paramore’s current guitarist Taylor York starting a relationship, it’s hard to say that the next Paramore episode will be drama-free. “Last Hope” reminds us to keep an eye out for any spark of hope when it feels like we’ve lost our way. In the end, it will be okay.


    Live performance:

    Official Audio:












  • “Listen” by Sent By Ravens, Saturday, October 15, 2022

    Sent By Ravens released two LPs on Tooth & Nail Records before going on an indefinite hiatus ten years ago. When fewer and fewer of their label mates claimed to be a Christian Rock band, Sent By Ravens fully embraced the genre. The band’s name comes from 1 Kings 17:6 when the prophet Elijah fled to the wilderness under threat of death from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. According to the story, Elijah was fed by ravens carrying bread to him. 

    YOUR WORDS WON’T ALWAYS BE GRACEFUL. Sent By Raven’s second record Mean What You Say is a response to hate hidden behind the mask of Christian rhetoric, specifically Westboro Baptist Church, the hate group that protests funerals in order to gain attention and condemn others they see who are not living to the standards of God as dictated through their narrow reading of the scriptures.  As so many Christian Rock bands broke up or changed their worldview, Mean What You Say examines the state of Christianity in early ‘10s. This was a time before mainstream Christianity was completely intertwined with right-wing politics, but there were certainly clues of what would happen. Groups like Westboro Baptist Church were seen as fringe groups, but the mainstream of Christianity was starting to look more and more extreme as attitudes towards race, gender, and sexuality were changing. Reacting to televangelists and mega church pastors is as old as Christian Rock itself. Stryper and Audio Adrenaline and others were subjects of sermons and wrote songs against whom they called false prophets. “Listen” is a song about the failures of a mega church pastor. He has lost sight of the central message he preaches, the love of God. The song serves as a warning that after the preacher’s death, the institution that he founded too will die. 

    WHEN WILL YOU LISTEN? Since my blog has been on such a Christian Rock kick lately, and to be honest I blog about Christian Rock a lot, I decided to start a playlist of songs that I find spiritual. I didn’t want to exclude “secular” songs, though. My beliefs have developed over the years, so I wanted to include some of the tracks that fit my spiritual journey. This playlist is nowhere near comprehensive. I only added tracks working back until May. I might finish it later. I intended this playlist to be something that I could play when I wanted to think about God or existence. I hope that these songs help you in some way. Here’s the playlist:

    Listen to “Spiritual” on Spotify

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • "Free Fallin'" by The Almost (Tom Petty Cover), Friday, October 14, 2022

    “Free Fallin’” is certainly bigger than any artist who has sung the three-chorded song. Today, we’ll look at a few versions of the song, but due to the Christian Rock theme of the last few days, ultimately I chose The Almost‘s version to be the official version for my blog. As pointed out in an excellent video by 12Tone (see below), there is a lot of meaning packed in the musical theory of the song, ultimately illustrating that there are pros and cons to being free. 

    ALL THE VAMPIRES  WALKIN’ DOWN THE VALLEY MOVE WEST DOWN VENTURA BOULEVARD.  Tom Petty released his first solo record Full Moon Fever in 1989. The first song recorded for the record and first track on the record is “Free Fallin’.” The song is one of Petty’s biggest and most recognizable tracks. It was also his last top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The simple ballad is partly a breakup song and partly a love song for his then home of Los Angelos. The Gainesville, Florida, native always kept a rebellious Southern flair in his music, but California was where he and The Heartbreakers forged their career. Freedom in this Tom Petty classic refers to a break up between the speaker and a “good girl.” The speaker claims not to miss her but also wants to “write her name in the sky.” The speaker is free, which feels good, but also without that “good girl” to ground him, he is heading for a crash. For Petty, that crash came  seven years later, in 1996, when he divorced his high school sweetheart Jane Benyo. He turned to using heroin, which he claimed was due to depression from the dissolution of his marriage. Petty’s new music lost cultural relevance in the ’90s, as many musicians fail to keep momentum over multiple decades. But by his death in 2017, and as of today with nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, countless spins on classic rock stations, and movie placements, it’s safe to say that the rebel spirit of Tom Petty won’t be backing down anytime soon.


    I’M A BAD BOY FOR BREAKING HER HEART.  A staple at a John Mayer concert and covered countless times by everyone from Guns ‘N’ Roses to Coldplay, the legacy of “Free Fallin’” has become a late 20th century standard. Indie band The Pains of Being Pure At Heart even recorded a cover version of Petty’s entire Full Moon Fever. But today’s version comes from Punk Goes Classic Rock. The Almost covers “Free Fallin’.” Released in 2010, the cover coincides with the band’s 2009 sophomore record, 
    Monster Monster. A fellow Floridian, Aaron Gillespie the then former drummer for Underoath left the band to focus on his alternative rock band The Almost, during a turbulent time in Underoath. But Gillespie, like Petty, found that the freedom wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The Almost’s third record, The Fear Inside Our Bones failed, which caused Gillespie to pursue a career recording worship music. Worship music didn’t work out either, which led him to give up releasing his own music for several years, touring as the drummer for Paramore. All the while Gillespie was going through a change in his beliefs and a divorce. Finally in 2015, Gillespie rejoined Underoath and has been with them ever since, though releasing solo records and another Almost record in 2019 called Fear Caller.

    The Almost cover:


    Tom Petty original:




    John Mayer cover:



    The Pains of Being Pure At Heart cover:

    “Understanding Free Fallin’”:





     

  • “To Fly” by Day of Fire, Thursday, October 13, 2022






















    In Christian Rock in the ‘90s and ‘00s, nothing spelled success as a conversion testimony. Founding Day of Fire, Josh Brown brought with him the testimony of a near drug overdose before turning to Christianity. Starting his music career as the lead singer of the Nü Metal band Full Devil Jacket, Brown toured with Nickelback, Creed, and others and even played at the infamous Woodstock ’99.


    EVERY MORNING THERE’S A BROKENNESS YOU SWALLOW. After a fairly successful debut album released in 2000 that spawned two radio singles, Full Devil Jacket was about to record their follow-up. While on tour with Creed, Brown overdosed on heroin but survived. After his near-death experience, Brown quit music, becoming a Christian and rebuilding his life. In 2004, Brown’s new band Day of Fire signed to Essential Records, Sony Music’s Christian imprint, and released their self-titled album. Much of the album contrasts the darkness of Brown’s past with the hope he found in Christianity. The album was well-received on Christian Rock radio and won a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year in 2005. The story of rebirth, watching a spiritual baby grow from spiritual sensorimotor to spiritual preoperational, particularly from someone in the world, was confirmation that evangelism worked. Day of Fire recorded three records between 2004 and 2010 and went on hiatus after Brown reconnected with Full Devil Jacket for what had started as a one-off reunion to raise money for deceased lead guitarist Michael Reaves, who died of cancer.


    YOU WERE MADE TO OVERCOME. In 2015 Josh Brown told the Jackson Sun that the reason he left the music industry in 2000 was to get sober, but he felt that he left his bandmates in Full Devil Jacket not “the right way.” After playing a benefit, Full Devil Jacket released Valley of Bones with Brown on lead vocals. Full Devil Jacket didn’t become a Christian Rock band, but Brown still claimed to be a believer. He stated: “Every record I’ve done since the beginning, it’s one line of thought.” Day of Fire was one of my most played CDs in my Junior year of high school, particularly on Tuesday nights when my sister and I took a Sociology class at the local community college. We played that record until Falling Up’s Dawn Escapes was released and took over for the rest of the year. Day of Fire’s follow-up records lacked the smoothness of their debut, and so I never listened to them more than a few times each. Weaving together Old Testament imagery and rock songs about depression and addiction the album felt like the perfect soundtrack to a Christian high school drama. “To Fly” ends the record, reiterating the band’s message: you are more than your addictions. “You were made to overcome.”


    Read the lyrics on Genius.





     

  • “Letter to Myself” by Furthermore, Wednesday, October 12, 2022 (updated repost)

    Sticking with the theme of often forgotten RadioU minor hits, Furthermore was another group that only released two records, 1999’s Fluorescent Jellyfish and 2003’s She and I. Furthermore was a trio consisting of vocalists Daniel Fisher and Lee Jester and DJ Jason Jester. The group arrived on the precipice of Tooth & Nail Records‘ golden age and left the roster shortly after releasing She and I. Fisher went on to play in several bands, and apparently released several other projects under Furthermore after the group’s Tooth & Nail run, including a single in 2020 and several singles earlier this year.

    BEFORE YOU SAY GOODBYE. Furthermore is a vestige of when Tooth & Nail signed artists without thinking about the financial consequences. Christian Rap was a burgeoning market for Christian audiences, but rock, punk, and hard music eventually became much of the label’s focus. Christian Rap tended to be more evangelistic, whereas many of the rock bands tended to less focused on evangelism. Furthermore certainly wasn’t to everyone’s taste; Christian labels pushed far too many Eminem-influenced groups and far too few black Christian rappers in the early ’00s. Like many of Tooth & Nail’s odd-ball-out musical acts, Furthermore was sent on tour to open for punk bands like All Wound Up and The Dingees. Furthermore clearly has rock influences–guitar and keys lay the backdrop for Fisher’s rapping as does Lee’s singing. The tracks on Fluorescent Jellyfish aren’t too serious. Their standout track “Are You the Walrus?” which has a video illustrating the song is a humorous song about going to grocery store and the speaker being mistaken for a Beatles-esque guru. She and I, though, while also containing light-hearted lyrics, deals more with serious relationships, domestic violence, and mental health. 

    A RELATIONSHIP MAY SAVE YOU, OR ENSLAVE YOU. COUNT ON BOTH TO HAPPEN. “Letter to Myself” is a bit clunky as a rap track at the beginning, but there is something about this pre-Emo rap track that brings me back to 2003. It sounds like a modified English class assignment: to write a letter to yourself to read when you are XX age. The lyrics of the song deal with falling in love and dealing with depression, and the lyrics read as a reminder for the speaker to stay grounded. The lyrics could even be read as a suicide prevention note. But listening back to the lyrics, it’s interesting that as a Christian Rock hit how the focus of the song is about the speaker grounding himself and watching out for himself, rather than reaching out to a higher power, and I completely missed that as a 14-year-old. I think back to the letters to myself, the embarrassing composition notebooks of half-written poems and song lyrics and guitar chords. I think about how important my faith was to those letters and how different everything is now. I don’t have those notebooks anymore because they’re not something I brought with me to Korea. However, I would like to look over them this winter when I go home. I wonder how shocked 14-year-old Tyler would think of 35-year-old Tyler.


    Read “Letter to Myself” by Furthermore on Genius.