1. A shrub or small tree bearing smooth-skinned, fleshy, edible fruit with a single hard-shelled seed 
2. To determine depth (of sound) 
3. To examine or investigate closely 
4. Means of testing vertical alignment 
5. To straighten or make perpendicular 
6. To work as a plumber 
7. A modern rock band featuring outstanding production values, powerful vocals, edgy guitars, and infectious rhythms. 

First of all, the fleshy, edible fruit metaphor.  Naturally, all those unemployed English majors (and Quayle fan-club members obsessed with the proper spellings of fruits and vegetables) will correct us by pointing out that the uncommon fruit is commonly spelled plum, not plumb.  I retort that the band has been purposefully deceitful, because the cover art epicts a deep blue background with a forked, wet plum with the letters p-l-u-m-b all in lowercase scribed over it.  The band seemingly had the fruit imagery in mind when they named themselves. And it's apt.  This Plumb is sweet and juicy.  It's refreshing without filling you up, musical snack food that won't spoil your meal.  Nor will it break any musical ground.  Have one.  Take two and share one with a friend. 

If you plumb the depth of this debut's sound, you'll gratefully conclude that not every song sounds the same.  You won't be bored, and you may even boogie.  Overall, however, Plumb's edgy pop songs tend to drip with derivation.  There aren't any glaring examples of direct plagiarism, though, and borrowing licks and attitudes is cool in this age of sampling and retro.  Plumb is no exception to the general state of the music biz.  They dredge up the ghosts of hip-songs-past from the likes of Sheryl Crow, Suzanne Vega, Transvision Vamp, Fiona Apple, Sioxsie and the Banshees, Garbage, insert your own hip 90's female-vocalist here, and (big surprise) Jars of Clay.  Some of these artists are good sources for inspiration and creative "borrowing," and their influence extends primarily into Tiffany Arbuckle's varied vocal phrasings more often than they do in overall musical stylings. Regardless, the resulting effect is a pleasing one.  Tiffany has an attractive voice to match her appearance.  She chirps, whispers,  growls, screams, and swoons through these songs with surprising power (at times) and tasteful resonance (always).  You get the impression that she is the real star power here---that the band is just there to back her up.  
 
Speaking of those guys, they've created a nice sound here that mixes modern rock guitars with hip-hop keyboards and rhythms in a way that is more aggressive and varied than Jars of Clay.  Most of Plumb are Greenville College grads like the Jars of Clay clan, but bassist J.J. Plansencio hopped on over from Sixpence None the Richer (a band owing only a few comparisons here). Their mutual success in turning a good tune and creating the appropriate amount of energy appears to owe more to the album's stellar production than their playing.  But to be fair, we'd have to see them live to pass that judgment.  I'm just guessing here based on some of the enhanced CD interview bits (among other things), but this album smacks of being the producer's as much as the artists's.  Jars of Clay's Dan Haseltine and Matt Brownlee, another Jars of Clay collaborator, appear to have exercised a great deal of creative control, and consequently the production is outstanding, polished, and just a bit too perfect. However, there is also a fair amount of variation and diversity in the songs here, ranging from ballads like "Pennyless" to crunchy pop songs like "Pluto" to dance-able anthems like "Crazy" to inspired alternative bits like "Send Angels."  It's well-done stuff, if a bit calculated and market-ready.  Pushing the metaphor again, Plumb doesn't plumb every musical fathom, but they do make a pleasant mark.  
 
Okay, metaphor three.  Attempting to examine theology or the life of faith in detail during a three-minute pop song is sketchy. Some artists and fans would have you think that "real answers" can be conveyed in a little ditty's lyrics, but I think the wise know better.  This band would prefer to be the latter, offering answers while copping a questioning attitude, but they aren't yet old enough to be considered very wise.  Just earnestly well-meaning. Plumb's lyrics are distinctively Christian in their intent, without too many cliches and only a handful of bad rhyme schemes.  For example, witness these lyrics from "Concrete," a song about being grounded in your faith:  

Aggressive passive inhibitions 
Laughs before an indecision 
Do I run or do I stay 
When all I do may fall away 
Lack of faith in what I trust 
When all I measure turns to dust 
When all I know decays in vain 
And I am left alone again.

Which finally brings us to the last two definitions for Plumb: "A means of testing vertical alignment" and "to straighten or make perpendicular." Clearly these two are related in what I determine to be Plumb's unstated mission statement:  to provide fun and sometimes even thoughtful music for Christians who aren't afraid of the holy pogo.  Plumb's songs are simple and uncluttered, and meant to encourage the faith, exhort the backslider, and give courage to the weak of heart or bruised of soul.  But they're also for shaking your space shoes. Tiffany and company wear their hearts on their sleeves.  They sincerely would love to make a difference in someone's life for Jesus' sake. And nobody better argue with that.  Especially from the dance floor.    

I enjoy listening to this album.  The fact that Plumb can be analyzed from so many different metaphorical directions speaks well for them.  Whether or not they have a future without a busy producer is uncertain, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. In the meantime, this tasty debut will keep my toes tapping on down the straight and narrow path.  
    
By: Steven Stuart Baldwin 
 

With production from Jar Of Clay's Dan Haseltine and Jars Of Clay's collaborator Matt Bronleewe, this album was in a good position to quickly establish the band in the Christian Music industry. The music is very different from Jars, with a more up-beat, aggressive sound, but the two groups do have their use of drum machines in common. 

Plumb's sound is similar to mainstream group Garbage, with its mixture of distorted guitars, drum loops, and powerful female vocals, but some songs are perhaps a little too similar for my liking.  The songwriting is deeper than the average CCM-pop fare (reflecting a mixture of emotions) but could still be stronger, as could some of the arrangements - this may well come as the band tours and adjusts more and more to each others' playing.  
  
It is difficult to pick a standout song, but I do think the hidden track could do very well in the British charts, sounding slightly similar to the British band Republica. -----James Stewart