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Occasionally, within the Christian music subculture, an artist or a band will break out of their intended demographic and gain praise and popularity from the mainstream media. With such success, the band is then generally elevated to a celebrity-like status: they are the fabled cross-over artists and they are few and far between. In the past, bands like Jars of Clay, P.O.D, MxPx, and Switchfoot have climbed the CCM ladder and achieved such success. And now, with their brand new album MMHMM released on Gotee records and distributed nationwide through EMI, it is safe to say that Relient K has earned their keep on the Christian Cross-over list.

 Believe it or not, there was a time when Relient K was not a household name. There was a time when the band sold their own merchandise. There was a time when they were playing to small crowds at less-than-perfect venues and music festival side stages. However, those days are long gone. Nowadays, you can’t walk into a youth group and say the words “Relient K” without being met with manic screaming of a herd of lovestruck teenage girls. In just five short years, these guys have gone from awkward young rockers to major-label mavericks. Since their 2000 self-titled debut, the Canton, Ohio foursome has sold nearly one million albums, played an average of two hundred shows per year, won a Dove award for Best Modern Rock Album, received recognition at the Grammy Awards, garnered much media attention, and captured the hearts of kids (and their parents) with their sugary-sweet pop hooks and their tongue-in-cheek lyricism. Yes, sir, the times have changed.

Yet, despite all of these changes, the band’s sound has remained relatively unaffected. Granted, there have been small things tweaked here and there, but the general pop-punk sound has remained pretty much intact…until now. MMHMM is a transitional album for Relient K for two reasons. First, as the band is now signed to Capitol Records (Beach Boys, Radiohead, et cetera), this marks their first major label release. Judging from their enormous fanbase and the recent trends in music, I think it is safe to say that the band will do just fine on a major, but only time will tell. Secondly, this album shows maturity and musical growth that has been absent from previous Relient K releases. MMHMM is the band’s departure from the cheesy tracks about Thundercats, gibberish, and Nancy Drew, but it is also the band’s arrival at a somewhat distinctive sound and some interesting songwriting.

MMHMM kicks off with an energetic opener “The One I’m Waiting For,” which doesn’t stray too far from the typical New Found Glory-esque pop-punk sound. An astute listener will also note right from the start that the vocals are a little more aggressive than they have been in the past. This is a somewhat recurring element that comes up a few more times on the album. The opening track fades into “Be My Escape,” which mixes the band’s traditional four-chord anthems with a beautiful piano ballad reminiscent of Ben Folds. In the past years it seems that these guys have become rather proficient at writing infectious melodies, a talent which is showcased in the first few tracks. The band enters some new territory on “I So Hate Consequences,” which features the dueling singing/screaming vocal lines of bands like Taking Back Sunday and Brand New. However, the aggression fades into a serene piano-string duet, which proves to be a very nice transition.

Though the disc starts out strong, there is a brief downfall in the middle tracks. “My Girl’s Ex-boyfriend” is a rather derivative pop-punk song. Musically, it is just a little bit too predictable and while it is not terrible, it does not measure up to the songs that lead up to it. Similarly, “More Than Useless” holds a significant spiritual message but doesn’t stand out from the hundreds of other minor key punk songs that have been written recently (the opening guitar line sounds like the combination of a few Alkaline Trio riffs).

 Then, as if nothing had happened at all, MMHMM unsuspectingly returns to the sound of the opening tracks. “Let It All Out” continues the experimental fusion of Brand New vocal hooks with the Ben Folds piano lines (plus, how can you go wrong with a banjo riff?). From there, the remainder of the record sounds like the songs could have been taken off of Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right… These tracks have that Blink-182 sound that made Relient K famous. And while it might be a little cliché, the token acoustic track at the end of the album is a very strong ending to a well-crafted album.

Overall, it is safe to say that this is the band’s strongest release to date. The absence of cheesy songs has forced the band into a difficult position where they must rely solely on good songwriting to keep their audience’s attention and they met the challenge very well. This album is nothing groundbreaking; this will not change the course of music as we know it. But Relient K has managed to create a solid pop-rock album that has a sound relatively distinct from the hundreds of other band’s out there vying for the same sales demographic. With few exceptions, MMHMM is a memorable major label debut that is accessible enough to win the band many more fans, catchy enough to get them radio airtime, and interesting enough to launch this cross-over success into the limelight of superstardom. This is an exciting time for Relient K and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for this promising young band.

Phil Nichols   1/22/2005