Album Review :
False Idle - Hymns Of Punk Rock Praise

Band: False Idle
Title: Hymns Of Punk Rock Praise
Label: Thumper Punk Records
Release Date: 9/14/2010
Reviewer: Jeremiah

Tracklisting:

1. Old Rugged Cross
2. It Is Well With My Soul
3. Great Is Thy Faithfulness
4. He Lives
5. To God Be The Glory
6. He’s Alive

I’ve been wanting someone do some old fashioned hymns to the style of punk rock music for a long time. I don’t know why it hasn’t been done (to my knowledge) but it’s been long overdue. Sef from the now defunct band uniSEF decided to start up a solo project and decided to name it False Idle. The first project he decided he wanted to do was an album of church hymns done punk rock style.

– The album starts off with “Old Rugged Cross”. It’s a pretty straight forward punk rock version of the old hymn. It’s full of gang vocals, a short guitar solo, and great punk beats.

– Another famous hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul”, comes in next and it’s more of the same as the last song. It has a couple more changes ups but for the more part keeps the same intensity as the last song.

– “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” starts off with the traditional organ and piano which was nice to hear. Then it goes into a full fledged punk rocker. It flows the same way the original does but with more vigor. There is a short guitar solo in the middle of the song. It ends with just piano and singing:

Great is Thy Faithfulness!
Great is Thy Faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have need Thy hand have provided;
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me!

It’s a stellar ending to a great song redone!

– “He Lives” starts off with some fast drumming before jumping into the first stanza.

I serve a risen Saviour; He’s in the world today.
I know that He is living, whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He’s always near.

The song stays pretty intense throughout and there’s a nice guitar solo towards the end as it goes into

Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian! Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King!
The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.

I never actually heard this hymn before but this version is riveting. It’s easily my favorite track on the album.

– The next song is another famous hymn. “To God Be The Glory” This song is a lot slower than the rest. It’s a nice change from the intensity of the first 4 tracks. The background chants and ohhh’s and ahhh’s in the chorus make the song more dynamic as well as the guitar solo in the middle.

– “He’s Alive” is the last song and the 2nd of which I had never heard before. It’s actually a little more modern then the rest of the songs. Don Francisco wrote this song in the late 1970’s after his conversion and it’s considered his most famous. The song is written like a story in the view point of The Apostle Peter when they find Jesus’ body is missing from the tomb. It follows the Gospel of John’s account of the resurrection. The music itself keeps with a slower pace as the story is being told. You can read the lyrics here. This is just a straight forward punk song with an awesome story.

Overall: This is an excellent album of mostly old hymns (except for one) done in the style of good ole punk rock. I have been wanting something like this for a long time and it doesn’t disappoint. I’m not sure if this was suppose to be an EP or LP but either way at just 6 songs its a little too short and left myself wanting a whole lot more. The total time clocks just over 18 minutes. I’ve read that a volume II might be in the works soon so I really hope that is the case. It would also be great if it featured more then 6 tracks. Also the production on this album is really raw sounding which is perfect to me. Others though that are use to over-produced albums might find it a little hard to get into. If you like old fashioned punk rock and old fashioned hymns then this album should be right up your alley.