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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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The opening crowd cheers amidst the oh-so humble announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, from Cromden, California, the second greatest band in the world, JC Groove", immediately reminded me of All Star United's "Popular Americans." A few tracks down, comparisons to All Star United still danced around in my head. Energized rock, with strong pop sensibilities, and a freshness that makes this music fun to listen to. As an added bonus, the songs are sprinkled with great lead guitar solos, which in nature drip of eighties glam metal and rock, but in practice sound less metally and much more poppy. The solo on MTV, for example, employs a technique invented by Van Halen, though through the use of guitar and studio effects, it fits nicely into the surrounding power pop melody. The song ideas are good, not great. On several, the lead vocalist didn't quite procure the energy which was needed for maximum effect. This came through on MTV especially, where the guitars' power chords and speedy drum riffs reminded of fun, fast and danceable tunes like "Popular Americans." Thanks to the weak, diluted vocals, however, it becomes difficult to get into the song. This music is obviously aimed at teens, and the lyrics reflect this, putting everything in quite simple terms. These five college students have a definite heart for ministry. On the one hand, that's great. On the other hand, teens are not as dumb as they're reputed to be. A little more depth could be added to the lyrics without losing any of the ministry focus. Finally, seeing it's their debut and they're on a label called HomeMade Records, I doubt this album was made on a very big budget. The guitar solos sound too low in the mix for my liking, not making them as effective as they could be. Not only that, the recording of the opening acoustic guitar for "Me," sounds cheap and harsh. With a larger budget and a more experienced producer, I could see them doing quite well in the Christian circuit. Eric Daams 11/7/2000
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