JESSIE REIMER
Staff Writer
After the mainstream success of 2004’s “Mmhmm,” Christian rock band Relient K returns to the radio waves with the release of its fifth full-length album, “Five Score and Seven Years Ago.”
Dripping with lyrical wit and pop-powered composition, the album stays consistent with Relient K’s quirky style, while including elements of musical maturity and growth.
The cleverly titled album is Relient K’s fifth in seven years.
Originally intended for a November 2006 debut, Relient K finally released the album March 6. After oodles of anticipation, the 14-track album sold 64,000 copies and debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 in its first week.
Hailing from Canton, Ohio, band members include Matt Thiessen on guitar, piano, and lead vocals, Matt Hoopes on guitar and Dave Douglas on drums. New to the line-up, the album welcomes bassist John Warne and guitarist Jon Schneck, who also plays the bells and the banjo on the album.
Perhaps the biggest difference from former Relient K albums is the absence of the band’s pop-punk roots. “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” instead embraces a polished pop sensibility with catchy choruses and memorable hooks. At times, the tracks seem a bit repetitive, but the sheer feel-good nature of the tunes lessens the effect of redundancy. Known for his clever lyrical capabilities, Thiessen tackles profound images as he ponders love, adolescence and faith. The fun-loving disposition of the songs compliments the album’s inspirational feel while at the same time almost hiding the sometimes-dark lyrical content.
The song “Devastation and Reform” addresses the authority of fear and the impulse of self-destruction. Despite the dark lyrical tone, the song remains upbeat and in line with the notion of conflict as an ultimately positive effect on life: “But there’d be no story without all this dissension/ So I inflict the conflict with the utmost of intention.” Pain becomes a necessary progression in the story.
The first single, “Must Have Done Something Right,” follows the pangs of young love as a boy struggles with feelings of inadequacy. “We should get jerseys cause we make a good team/ But yours would look better than mine cause you’re out of my league,” sings Thiessen.
The track exposes adolescent insecurity in a light-hearted manner, rather than the melodramatic approach of an emo song.
At the heart of each track, Thiessen fuses powerful lyrics with his effortless transitions into a floating falsetto. The inspirational premise of “Up and Up” highlights the past as a means for creating a better future. “The past is just a conduit/ And the light there at the end is where I’ll be.”
As with previous albums, the band shows its spiritual roots, discussing faith in God and personal shortcomings. Songs like “Give Until There’s Nothing Left” focus on giving one’s life to God. “And I want all you have to offer/ So I’ll offer myself and I’ll just give until there’s nothing else.”
This album includes the band’s shortest and longest tracks to date. “Crayons Can Melt on Us for All I Care” lasts only 12 seconds and employs the band’s signature sense of humor. In the song, Thiessen playfully sings, “I just wasted 10 seconds of your life.” Past Relient K songs about mood rings and Thundercats reminisce the same comical content as “Crayons.”
The longest track, “Deathbed,” clocks in at just over 11 minutes, complete with both an ambitious storyline and an epic orchestration. Thiessen explores the idea of forgiveness as a dying man recounts the events of his life and encounters Jesus. The song features Jon Foreman, lead singer of Switchfoot, as the voice of Jesus.
Thiessen also touches base with the notion of failure and adolescent error while singing, “If life was a highway, I was drunk at the wheel,” in “Deathbed.”
Thiessen maintains his reputation as a brilliant lyricist employing innovative wordplay and wit. In the song “Bite My Tongue” he sings, “And I’m sweeping up the seconds that tick off the clock/And saving them for later when I’m too ticked to talk.”
With “Five Score,” Relient K proves itself as both talented and insightful, emphasizing the message of the band’s music over complicated and groundbreaking musicality. The CD offers fun-loving, catchy tunes, consistent with that of Relient K’s signature style, as the group continues to perfect the art of pop music.
03-22-2007
