Album Review :
Reliance - Running
By Marco Leal in Reviews | 13 Comments
Two Years in the making, Prescott, AZ’s own Spirit Filled Skate Punk act, Reliance, have returned with an 8 song release full of scripture based anthemic sing alongs! FFO: Pennywise, Millencolin, Lagwagon, and other 90’s era skate punk
Those who know Reliance’s music will not be let down. They follow the same formula as in their 2 prior releases “Crashing Down” and “Redemption”.
“Running” starts of with “Helpless” which just comes at you and revs you up to get you geeked for the musical journey you are about to embark on! Mixing fast punk with a little bit of hardcore makes this ever so pleasurable.
The album then shifts gears with “Hard Times” and “70×7” which are both great anthemic songs. “Hard Times” can be relative to the current times reminding us that with Christ we will get through the hard times. “70×7” is of course relative and based off Matthew 18:22.
“Out of Hand” picks the pace back up along the same tempo as “Helpless”. This is good measure as it tends to keep the listener interested and prevents the ever so common mesh that can tend to occur.
“Life or Death”, “Stand Tall”, and “Against All Odds” are 3 more anthemic sing alongs similar to “Hard Times” and “70×7”.
“Life or Death” seems to be based on Colossians chapter 3 as verse 2 is also stated in the chorus: “Whoa, this is life or death. Whoa, set your mind on things above. Whoa, this is life or death. Whoa, we live for eternity.” My personal favorite line of this song is “We set our hearts on Revelation 21 verse 4!”
“Stand Tall” is based on James 4:14 reminding us that “Life is just a vapor” and that “We’ve gotta stand tall” and “Make the most of every day.”
“Against All Odds” seems to be based on Hebrews 11 stating “Look beyond what you can see, put your faith in the unseen.” With these words Reliance is reminding us to as stated in the chorus “We’ll never give up. Against all odds embrace the truth.” The truth being Christ.
“Running” is the final track on this album and ends with just as much ferocity as the album began! This song seems to take inspiration from Psalm 55:22 with the chorus “Whoa, my friend there ain’t nothing you can do with all your pain, but let go. Whoa, my friend let Him show you what you’re really made of.”
Overall I personally would’ve liked this release to have had some more fast tempo songs as I’m spastic like that. The anthemic sing alongs totally make up for this though. I mean, who doesn’t like a good sing along?! Once the current situation calms and concerts start up again, it will definitely be a blast to be shouting along.
“Running” is currently available for streaming and digital download via the Thumper Punk Records’ bandcamp page.
This is Albert of Reliance, i just wanted to say how much i appreciate everyone’s time listening and sharing and from what im hearing enjoying our new record. God is doing amazing things and im so blessed and stoked to be apart of it !!!! David from Thumper Punk Records and all of our rad supporters have been so amazing and great to me and the Relinace Family!!! Thx again , keep listening!! Blessings!!
I like this very much! Although the energy of the first track made my eyes pop, no other track did that for me the rest of the album…I think they really have something going with the fast short hardcorish sound of ‘Helpless’. Love it that the last track forfills the same energy again; maybe that’ s a good balance afterall. And love the lyrics, really fruitfull! I’m a big fan of silent time meets punk rock haha.
I honestly felt the same, but as I listened more and more, the slower paced anthemic songs grew on me. It’s kind of like “Step Down” by Sick of it All. When I first heard it I was like ok this is good, but it’s not the Sick of it All I’m really into, but after several listens, I couldn’t get the song out of my head. Reliance overall are a great band and have a great sound. It’s also not easy to find a band that sounds this good and references scripture as well. Check out their other EP’s… Read more »
I totally agree that these tracks are getting better and better after some repeats; 7×70 is insane! And the fact that they are this good after a relative short running is very promesing. Their skatepunk sound is as good as the headliners of the scene, and the clearity of their believe and use of scripture is very special. As a younger boy I already praised God through Dogwood songs haha; we’re blessed as christian punks with this band. Still love Helpless very much, but today I fell in love with each track. Sidenote: my pastor loves the band. Yes that’s… Read more »
Very nice! Be sure to click on my name. It should direct you to my bandcamp page where I have Christian music of all genres available for free download. Also, check out my Spotify page as I am constantly creating and updating playlists of Christian artists. Be safe and Christ bless you!
Yeah I’m following indievisionmusic for a while now, I bought some cassettes last year. I was so excited when I discovered Friends and Family sampler vol1…checking the website every day since then.
Awesome! Thanks for reading and supporting IVM! Christ bless you!
Thank you Joramp for the support and for checking out the site/bands. It’s a pleasure having you here as part of the IVM family 🙂
Loving this! Love this band. Great review, Marco!
Thanks, Kavin for the compliment and thank you for reading! Christ bless you!
Thanks for the review!
My pleasure, David! You and Brandon have always released quality spirit filled music! I can only hope and pray that if and when I get a band going it’ll be blessed to have a chance to be on your’s or Brandon’s label or better yet, both! May the Lord continue to guide and bless you, brother!
I wanna grab it. Does it still have the pennywise vibe ?