Tag: 90’s christian rock

This review is in response to a Facebook post I had made a month or so ago on a review I had done on here. The gentleman I had spoke with & I have a lot in common, including our passion for Christian EDM.  Joey Belville & company IMHO brought the fledgling Christian electronic/synthpop rock genre to fruition. Several other artists involved in the genre ie Painted Orange, Code of Ethics, Sheltershed, LZ7, Capital Kings & World Wide Message Tribe, etc… I remember owning Scott Blackwell’s Myx Records release Defend Your Joy back in the mid 90s & I was ecstatic.… Continued →

Children of the Consuming Fire appear to have risen from the southern California Vineyard ministry with their record label housing alt-rock bands such as Asight Unseen & The Violet Burning. This SOTD has a live video you can find on Youtube as well, but was hard to catch the music atmosphere. The band did not catch much airplay that I remember, but with the cool bass line and the driving music, I really dig the band & song name. I think the band had a fun time on this track.… Continued →

Choo Choo Pye (a la The Wait) may have a funny sounding band & album name, but their music reminisces this reviewer of greats such as Midnight Oil, The Call, or Cloud Merchants. Composed of 3 members, the band seems to have hailed from California. The early 90s vibes are definitely there & they achieved Christian radio history by having the highest debut entry by an unsigned artist on the most awesome Pure Rock Report Multi-Format chart. They have a music video for their song U.S.… Continued →

Much like the song Hey Gene by The Choir, this song is an homage to the late Gene Eugene who fronted mainly Adam Again, but also conspired on various other projects. Tragedy Ann’s band members have risen from the ashes of one of my fave 90s bands Sometime Sunday (especially their Stone release) & then went to start a rock ‘n roll worship band literally called The Rock & Roll Worship Circus. This song reminds us to be humble no matter what our profession is and inspire others to look to our Saviour Jesus.… Continued →

Angie Turner is the given name for soloist Miss Angie who has been releasing music since 1997. She was married to Oran from Johnny Q Public (whom I saw back in probably circa in their hometown of Springfield, MO). 2 LPs were released in the 90s that went to the Christian market. Consisting of what I would consider 60s esque/bubblegum/hard alternative rock music, the music was hip & akin to Veruca Salt or what I think Avril Lavigne would have made if in the Christian market.… Continued →

Jaded Thorns were a grunge band that hailed from New York . Releasing 2 LPs & disbanding, this was a band that I wished for more of.  It is hard to find much on them as their record label did not last long. Both Epiphany & Things My Father Taught Me were on Word of Mouth (The Roosevelts, Sides of the North, Mending Point, Poor Man’s Riches). A few songs hit radio: Epiphany, Remnants, Lie Awake & Lost In The Moment & the one featured. The lyrics come straight from Psalm 130 verse 1: “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?… Continued →

My last review of 2020 & yet another band from the archives! This band was extremely hard to track down. Heard this song Daybreak on an indie Christian website/station back while stationed in the military. My guess is that this song was released during the old mp3.com download days. It took me probably 15 years before I tracked down a hard copy. There is another band called Gone Hazel, but I do not believe it is the same band. Anyways, finally got a hold of this 2 song demo release on Ebay from a seller whom I am guessing used to be a DJ as was selling rare stuff such as promotional releases from artists. … Continued →

Here’s another obscure band from the archives. First heard them on an indie Christian rock station/website & they seemed to have an Americana/grunge flair. They appear to have a full length called Flicker that was released in 1999, but I have not heard that one (but, totally just ordered)! I picked up 2 of their EPs (Self-titled & The Lazy I Sessions” for a high price back several years ago. Anyways, this song is catchy & I dig it & hope you do also!… Continued →

I try & find obscure bands for these reviews so others can enjoy a lost song/band like I do. Animal Couch is one of those. I first heard their music through my endless digging for Christian music through a long ago website/station called Freerock1). Their goth look seems to be both like Wedding Party or Virgin Black, but sound more akin to modern rock. They had released 3 cds which were rare, but Spotify currently carries all: Spare Room Demo, Chocolate Covered Pears & Words To Die By.  … Continued →

How many of y’all remember a hackey sack (the little ball you kicked with your foot & held it on the side of your shoe & sent it up on your head or flipped it to another player in style). Man, in my high school days that was the in-thing! Well, Australia’s Beanbag is named for that little entertainment ball. Saw this 4 piece at Carowinds in South Carolina back in the day. Pretty sure Hangnail, Denison Marrs & Thousand Foot Krutch were there that day also.… Continued →

Raspberry Jam is one of the earliest Christian alternative rock bands when alternative was such a genre. Heard their music through an indie rock station out of Springfield, MO while I was visiting fiends back in the early-mid 90s. This same station is where I discovered other greats such as Cloud2Ground, The Violet Burning & The Prayer Chain (the later 2 who evolved from the same southern California scene as Raspberry).  The band released and EP & 3 LPs before disbanding. Released on Metro One Records in 1993 (the same label who brought us Spoken & Precious Death), the 3rd release Chi-Ro was an alternative rock/funk hybrid with 2 vocalists: Phillip Kim & Angel Short.… Continued →

Reflescent Tide is one of the first Christian rock bands I heard of way back in the mid 90s. There was a college show out of the University of Illinois that had a DJ that would play all kinds of music I had never heard of. The 3 piece band out of Canada had a 2 cd career. Their follow up actually had a music video which is grainy on YouTube They do not look like rock stars akin to most music released at the time.… Continued →

One of my all time fave releases, Lemonade, was from a band released by the defunct R.E.X. Music. Forming circa 1993, the 4 band members had changed their name from Leaderdogs to add For The Blind. They blew Christian indie music lovers away with an industrial/hard rock hybrid with iconic songs such as Yellow & Black Attack (no, not the Stryper album!), Better Ways, Ripple & Supersaturated. They followed up with The Resurrect Me EP that included other the greats Pollinate & Lie You Buy. Then, boom, that was it.… Continued →

Rackets is the best shock rock band imho with loyal fans called Therapy Patients. Led by vocalist Kandy Kane (Kiffany), they have definitely had a controversial impact on the Christian music industry & have been repeatedly listed as sounding akin to Marilyn Manson. Starting out in 1994, they formed under the name Human Soup. Many years have passed & they have released recent music more akin to their first 2 albums. The first was released under the moniker of A Violent System with this new one back to Rackets & Drapes.… Continued →

So this track is one of my favorite songs of all time. There are a couple different versions out there, but the one off We Are Not Ashamed is my go to. I remember hearing this song for the first time circa 1993 on a University of Illinois indie Christian rock/metal show whose DJ introduced me to greats such as Living Sacrifice, Reflescent Tide, The Clergy amongst many others at the time. Lust Control’s background can be found on many other sites, but what I liked about this specific song is the in your face lyrics & the romping punk music.… Continued →

Fresno, Cali nu-metal band Gryp (fronted by educator Curtis Shamlin) is epic imho. First heard this band’s firt release Indecision while checking out demos at a defunct Christian bookstore in Bloomington, IL & I was immediately hooked. It was different than what was out in 1997 in the Christian realm with staples Ungrateful, Heal Me Back & You Were There. I remember being on their street team when they released their ep Left Behind while stationed in the military in Columbia, SC. I was so excited and gave out numerous CD singles & stickers while hanging out at New Brookland Tavern with numerous bands such as SF59, MeWithoutYou, Underoath, etc… & was having an awesome time being on fire for YHWH.… Continued →

Fluffy was a garage grunge band heralding from Mike Knott’s Blonde Vinyl Record label. Guitarist Chris Colbert has remastered both of their full lengths recently and are available on many digital platforms. The record label Lost In Ohio is running these repressings & have a few cool ones including The Julies & Black & White World. I bought their first Go, Fluffy, Go Cd back in the 90s & had no idea what I was in store for. I was treated to lots of feedback fuzz & gritty vocals that reminded me at the time of a cross between Smashing Pumpkins & Nirvana.… Continued →

Finnish rapcore at its finest in the early days of nu-metal. Simply said, this is one of the most high energy bands imho ever (just see the video for their song “Point of No Return”). It seems they did not keep the same label as each release was through a different one. Having formed in 1997, their debut LP (aptly titled) RU Ready was released on Bullroser (the Finnish label responsible for releasing several musical heavyweight artists such as Deuteronomium & HB) in 1999. They released a few singles & EPs before releasing their 2002 monster Superior.… Continued →

dighayZoose was one of those outlier alternative bands in the Christian music industry. One could describe their music as funk metal and did not have much of an equivalent in the Christian market alas Scaterd Few with a sound akin to Jane’s Addiction or Red Hot Chili Peppers, but in a much harder vein. The 4 man band only put out a couple demos and 2 full LPs along with a live album before disbanding.  After disbanding, they released an LP on R.E.X as Hot Pink Turtle.… Continued →

Lo-Fidelity Records has launched a really cool kickstarter campaign for the vinyl release of Adam Again’s classic album “Perfecta” (1995/Brainstorm). The album served as the final studio album featuring Gene Eugene before he passed in year 2000. Check out the kickstarter campaign here and pre-order the vinyl/CD in several different options.… Continued →

Fever (A Defense of The Big Three) I need to take a brief pause at this point in my story to address something that I believe to be very important. To my knowledge it is something that has never been properly articulated publicly by any music critic from within the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) community. I will take the heat for my opinions and get straight to the point. Those from the outside world often form their perception of all Christian music based on the single experience of having accidentally stumbled onto a mainstream CCM station (designed to explicitly cater to “the church”) while scanning the dial in their car.… Continued →