Copious Notes

rctalk: Underoath's 'Lost in the Sound of Separation' . . . Fireflight's coming to town

Underoath are vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, keyboardist Christopher Dudley, guitarist Tim McTague, bassist Grant Brandell, drummer Aaron Gillespie, and guitarist James Smith. Copyrighted photo courtesy of Tooth & Nail Records.

While Christian rock is now readily accepted, even in churches that don't use it as part of their worship, hardcore metal remains a genre a lot of listeners have a hard time wrapping their minds around as a product of faith. How do you find the message is music where the vocalist sounds like he or she is in the very act of retching and the music sounds so angry?

Even as someone who listens to music for a living, there have been times I've walked away from a metalcore set, say at Ichthus, thinking the fans are hearing something I don't get. I have to add though, that when you sit down and talk to a lot of these groups, hardcore describes their faith as well as their music.

For several Underoath albums though, there has been no doubt where they're coming from, and the Tampa band's latest disc is masterpiece of faith-based metal.

One of the things Underoath is constantly credited with is finding melody in the madness, a trick that can be largely credited to drummer Aaron Gillespie, who had a hit of his own in 2007 with the debut of his side act, The Almost. And melody certainly is an aspect of the band's sound, something that makes it accessible to people unwilling to endure 45-minutes of punishing sound to find a message to hold onto. Even in Underoath's accessible world, their music is still an acquired taste.

But more than melody, Underoath finds majesty. It finds majesty in how it pairs melody with howl, the firmness of the rhythm section of Gillespie and bassist Grant Brandell, and the intricate harmonies and melodies the rest of the band lays on top of their base, worthy of comparison to John Bonham and John Paul Jones.

Most of all, in this album, this album finds majesty in a deeply explored theme of searching for God in the midst of despair and loss. That is ultimately what makes Lost in the Sound of Separation a Christian rock masterpiece, and it puts to rest any question whether metalcore can convey a message of faith.

Fireflight concert: Riding the success of their hit single and album, Unbreakable, Fireflight blazes into Kentucky next week with a Sept. 23 show in Louisville and Sept. 24 gig at Lexington Christian Academy.

The concerts are presented by Ichthus Ministries, which brought Fireflight to its festival in June.

New music: Today, we get new music from Nevertheless, which opens for Fireflight in Louisville, as well as 33 Miles, Decyfer Down, Group 1 Crew, Bebo Norman and Krystal Meyers, who we liked last week.

Superchick's Rock What You Got was reportedly used on MTV's The Hills this week, and the band's music is also featured on race car driver Danica Patrick's website.

rctalk: Relient K's 'The Bird and the Bee Sides'

Doesn't this look like a promo photo for a band that would release an album called The Bird and the Bee Sides? Or was it a case of auto-focus follies? Photo courtesy of Gotee Records.

Relient K | The Bird and the Bee Sides

It seems like Relient K would be a fun band to hang out with in the studio. The group has one of the most noteworthy senses of humor in rock, and it's continually evolving into one of the most sharp and creative bands out there. Wouldn't it be fun to be there to hear the jokes and witness a stroke of genius.

That's the feel you get from, The Bird and the Bee Sides, ReK's new between-album EP that's not really an EP. 

It's closest to a B-sides and rarities collection a la my all-time fave of that genre, R.E.M.'s Dead Letter Office. But Bee Sides is quite a bit more substantial than most of those collections, with numerous tracks that demonstrate growth from Relient K's last studio effort, 2007's Five Score and Seven Years Ago.

We see most of that growth in the first 13 tracks, known as The Nashville Tennis EP. A lot of that perspective is relational, with songs of devotion such as Curl Up and Die and You'll Always Be My Best Friend, evangelism with I Just Want You to Know and Hope for Every Fallen Man, and justice in The Last, The Lost, The Least. The latter song is written and sung by bassist John Warne as part of this album's experiment of having each band member write and sing a tune. Through its last several recordings, Relient K has given us this feeling that the guys we used to picture firing spitballs from the back row of the class are getting serious about life.

But not too serious.

There's a lot of fun on this disc, including a few minute-long numbers like a couple of takes on the fellow-band shout-out Five Iron Frenzy is Either Dead or Dying. Quite a few songs on the second half are pulled from previous Relient K EPs, and then there are offerings like beautiful acoustic versions of Up and Up and Who I Am Hates Who I've Been.

Far from being a collection of toss-offs for fans, The Bird and the Bee Sides could create new followers for Relient K.

Jay in 3D: Third Day's outstanding new album, Revelation, hits stores virtual and terrestrial Tuesday, and the band will be on national TV that night performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.

Liner note: I wrote the Revelation review a few weeks ago with a pre-release copy and was curious to see how Brad Avery's credit would be handled, since he worked on Revelation before leaving the band. On the last page of the CD booklet, which I received last week, Brad is listed as, "additional guitars." By the way, Tim Parker's cover art is a representation of Salvation Mountain, a public art project by Leonard Knight in Calipatria, Calif.

Labor Day Christian pop weekend: A few weeks ago, we told you Quest Community Church has moved its Questapalooza Festival to the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, with headliner Kirk Franklin, plus Kutless and needtobreathe. Well don't look now, but Lexington Christian Academy has booked Jars of Clay for its Back to School Bash Aug. 29 and 30, which will include a football game and carnival, culminating with Jars at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 30. Tickets for the show are $25 each. Click here for the LCA website and information (click Jars of Clay concert under the "news" heading).

Katy Perry: If you listen to Top 40 radio, you can't miss Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl. It doesn't sound like anything you'd hear on Christian radio, considering most of the evangelical community is pretty down on homosexuality. But Katy Perry was once on Christian radio as aspiring teen star Katy Hudson (her 2001 self-titled debut's album cover, right) -- not that Kate Hudson. Christianity Today has a pretty thorough -- and pointed -- commentary on Perry and her current career. I'm going to qualify here that just because I refer you to something doesn't mean I endorse every word, but this is interesting reading.

Before Ichthus, Smith will get her hands dirty with fans

New artist Stephanie Smith will be working with an Ichthus local mission project before the festival. Photo courtesy of Gotee Records.

Stephanie Smith will be on the main stage at the Ichthus Festival twice, but before that, she’ll be in Lexington joining festival goers who get into town early to work on a mission project organized by the festival and several Central Kentucky ministries and churches.

“One of my goals in this music-band-rockstar thing is not just to stand on the stage and show people that I like to sing,” Smith says. “I really have a heart to better the community and serve and love people at their point of need. This is an opportunity to do that and to get to know the community.”

Smith’s desire to serve is, in large part, due to the failure of her first attempt at a recording career.

“I went to college to pursue music and pursue the rock-star thing,” Smith says.

It went well, and it went to her head. Her wake up call came in a comment from her mother who told her at 18, “I don’t care if this is all taken away from you, because I don’t like who you’ve become.”

Smith ended up going on a soul-searching journey that included a trip to Guatemala, where she found herself carrying cinder blocks up a muddy hill to help people build sinks in their kitchens, and to Africa where, for two weeks, she lived on $1 a day.

“It gave me real insight into the world outside of America,” Smith says.

Christian music update: An 'Austin City Limits' wish list

Phil Keaggy, shown performing at last year's Ichthus Festival, would be a great addition to the Austin City Limits lineup. Copyrighted LexGo photo by Rich Copley.

It's Tuesday, and usually I run a CD review here. But I'm not quite ready to scribble on any new saucers this week, so let's do a little musing.

My absolute favorite televised venue from music is the long-running PBS series Austin City Limits. It's a a show that has seen most everyone who's anyone in contemporary music from country to world music to rock and a lot of genres that fall in between. Though I have a TiVo season pass for it, I often will stay up Saturday to catch the show, even if I am due at church early the next morning.

Every once and a while, I contemplate what Christian artists would be a good fit for this great music showcase. I don't have a detailed list of who all has been on the show, and there have been recent performances of acts that have ties to the faith-based market such as Robert Randolph and Sufjan Stevens. ACL was the first time I encountered Stevens and his band/orchestra in their butterfly wings. That's one of the great things about ACL: because you trust it to deliver great music, you tune in regardless of whose on and make discoveries. So, a few of the acts Austin City Limits could introduce to its audience include:

~ Phil Keaggy: One thing about the ACL audience is they love great musicianship, so they would love Keaggy, arguably the greatest musician in Christian pop. The intimate setting of the show would also suit him well.

~ How about a couple of Texans, like Derek Webb and the David Crowder Band? Webb is one of the most engaging songwriters in the faith market today, and while DCB is labeled a worship artist, that worship comes with a lot of exploration and adventure the ACL crowd would love.

~ ACL is also into showcasing  well-seasoned established artists such as R.E.M. last weekend or Elvis Costello last season. From the Christian market, who could be better for this showcase than Jars of Clay and Switchfoot? The men of Jars have the kind of musical diversity that would play well on the show, and Jon Foreman's thoughtful songwriting for 'foot would have a better showcase in this forum than on some of the massive concert stages we're used to seeing the band on. Foreman the solo artist, by the way, would also be great on ACL.

This is just a short list, but man, it would be great to tune is one Saturday night and see one of these acts performing before the Texas Capitol backdrop.

New 'chick: We don't have any marquee releases today, according to the Gospel Music Association. But peering through the binoculars, we can see a new Superchick release coming up this time next month. Rock What You Got will be the band's first new release in three years, and promises to have some of the same cross cultural appeal of 2005's Beauty from Pain that featured everything from the bittersweet title track to the first pumping, girl-power Anthem. The band is offering a RWYG sampler with three tracks available today at digital outlets such as iTunes and Napster. I'm downloading as I write.

Condolences: As most of you probably already have heard, Stephen Curtis Chapman lost his adopted daughter Maria to a tragic accident last week. A reminder, if you would like to make a gesture of condolence to the family, they are requesting donations be made to Shaohannah's Hope, the Chapman's charity to support and facilitate overseas adoptions.You can leave notes at the Chapman's blog.

In addition to Ichthus: So, we always write extensively about the Ichthus Festival here. That makes sense. It's just a few dozen miles down the road from Lexington in Wilmore, it is the original Christian pop music festival and what else in Central Kentucky, except the UK basketball team, brings 20,000 people together at one time.

But it is not the only big Christian music festival in the Bluegrass State. While fest season starts at Ichthus June 12-14, it winds down with the NewSong Festival in Leitchfield, Aug. 8-10. This year's event features several of the same acts that will hit Ichthus, including Jeremy Camp, Skillet and TobyMac, and some that won't be at Ichthus such as Sanctus Real and Derek Webb.