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Tintern Abbey’s debut release may seem like another unspectacular Christian alternative pop band on the surface, but there’s a moderate amount of left-field flourishes and stylistic shifts to make this debut a worthy showcase for Tintern Abbey’s potential to become an interesting acoustic pop act. 

The songwriting within Cavalcade remain fairly strong in its twelve song cycle with many pretty melodies and slight indie-pop influences that keep things fresh throughout.  The weakest material in Calvacade may be its earlier songs – “Shotgun” and “The Hurt,” though both not lacking in good melodies, tend to sink under the busyness of the instrumentation filling them.  Lyrics never seem to properly grab a hold of the listener’s interest either, a mix of romantic and spiritual musings that tend to float away from rather than grasp our conscious attention.   

This is a solid indie-pop band trying to get out here, and there are many places where it breaks through the surface-level ordinary Christian pop veneer of the band.  If the band can embrace some of the more provocative and interesting aspects of their sound, Tintern Abbey could become a pop band worthy of attention.

Jonathan Avants 1/8/05