Earlier this month, we took a look at Christianity Today’s best-of list, which seemed to judge records on an “is this Christian enough?” scale as much as it did musical merit. To balance that out, the online music mag Patrol serves up a list that looks at vaguer connections between faith and music. Patrol started off analyzing the fringes of the Christian music biz (it was called CCM Patrol then), but now it has a broader aim, tackling New York City from a faith-based perspective. Their list’s intro shows their disdain for the Christian mainstream, although at this point, you have to wonder which artists they’re talking about. CCM Magazine bit the dust this year, turning into a digital shell of its former self, and other publications working the Nashville center of the biz aren’t exactly lauding the work of Michael W. Smith these days either. Patrol goes a bit more obscure than Christian Music Today or (the horribly named) Jesus Freak Hideout, but by and large, the same discs lauded by the establishment are showing up on Patrol’s list too. I understand the intent, but labeling your list the best “faith-inspired” albums doesn’t mean much when there’s only one “faith” represented.
THE GOOD: There really are a lot of quality discs in the mix here: Deas Vail (No. 45), The Welcome Wagon (No. 27), and Doug Burr (No. 8), to name a few. It’s almost like a case could be made with this list that Christian music—I mean “faith-based” music—doesn’t really suck as bad as advertised. Plus, the Jonas Brothers made the list (No. 42)!.
THE BAD: On the other hand, you can tell that there’s a certain style to the genre on its indie fringes, and that style is singer-songwritery folk. There are exceptions, but all in all, there’s a very Paste-y sound dominating the proceedings. If the point is to poke the mainstream, championing a different, but no less cliched aesthetic as an alternative seems to defeat the purpose. (Case in point: Recommending Francesca Battistelli (No. 44), an act seemingly engineered in a lab to emulate the success of Sara Bareilles.)
THE WHAAA?: How far can you stretch the idea of “faith-inspired” until the idea has no meaning? Joseph Arthur seems to have little connection to Christian circles, and if there’s a connection between the Mae Shi and a personal Lord and Savior, I’ve never seen it mentioned in any of their press. Next to those dubious connections, you have Richard Swift, who’s done everything possible to distance himself from the Christian-music world. I get the aim, and there’s an impossibility to trying to discern who is in and out, but the standards here still teeter on the absurd like the lists they’re aiming to out-cred.
1. Brooke Waggoner, Heal for the Honey
2. Son Lux, At War with Walls & Mazes
3. Delta Spirit, Ode to Sunshine
4. The Mae Shi, HLLLYH
5. Sandra McCracken, Red Balloon
6. The Khrusty Brothers
7. Ben Shive, The Ill-Tempered Klavier
8. Doug Burr, The Shawl
9. Rue Royale
10. Family Force 5, Dance or Die
11. Bodies of Water, A Certain Feeling
12. Soporus, Atomove Elektrarne EP
13. Brooke Fraser, Albertine
14. Anathallo, Canopy Glow
15. Andy Shauf, Darker Days
16. Waterdeep, Pink & Blue
17. Aaron Espe, Songs from A Small Town
18. Denison Witmer, Carry the Weight
19. Cloud Cult, Feel Good Ghosts
20. William Fitzsimmons, The Sparrow and the Crow
21. PlayRadioPlay!, Texas
22. Copeland, You Are My Sunshine
23. Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts, Temporary People
24. Cotton Jones Basket Ride, The River Strumming
25. My Brightest Diamond, A Thousand Sharkâs Teeth
26. Damien Jurado, Caught in the Trees
27. The Welcome Wagon, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon
28. Rosebuds, Life Like
29. LIGHTS
30. Thrice, The Alchemy Index, Vol. III & IV: Air & Earth
31. Cold War Kids, Loyalty to Loyalty
32. Kevin Max, The Blood
33. Anberlin, New Surrender
34. Underoath, Lost in the Sound of Separation
35. Tyler Burkum, Darling Maybe Someday
36. House of Heroes, The End is Not the End
37. Colour Revolt, Plunder, Beg & Curse
38. Richard Swift, Richard Swift as Onasis
39. Starflyer 59, Dial M
40. Elsa Jayne
41. The New Frontiers, Mending
42. Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer
43. The Lassie Foundation, Jetstreams, Three Wheels EP
44. Francesca Battistelli, My Paper Heart
45. Deas Vail, White Lights EP
46. Grits, Reiterate
47. Jars of Clay, Closer EP
48. Bethany Dillon, So Far: The Acoustic Sessions
49. Jon Foreman, Spring & Summer
50. Relient K, The Birds and the Bee Sides
actually, when i first listened to the mae shi album, i was seriously wondering if maybe they were a christian rock band; there’s a lot of references on there that would make sense if they proclaimed themselves to be an overtly christian band.
Yeah. I dunno if I’d say that “Hlllyh” is faith based music, but it definitely seems faith oriented. Not that that necessarily means anything about the band themselves. As far as I can tell the entire album is about the rapture, and these days I don’t think religion necessarily has a monopoly on the imminent doom market.
I mean, HLLLYH is Halleluyah with the vowels taken out…
I never knew that’s what hlllyh was…I thought it was a dumb way of spelling hell yeah
I remember reading an interview where they said that only one member was even remotely christian but they just found the stories interesting to write about. It’s a pretty big stretch to put them on their. I mean they’re writing about faith but by that criteria atheistic bands could be writing about it in a negative light and still make the list
One thing’s for sure: “faith-based” bands have shitty names and even shittier album titles
Tangent here, but I once conducted a fascinating interview with Joseph Arthur where we explored some of the faith overtones in his stuff and where that comes from. Basically, he’s not a traditional Christian (or a Christian, period) by any means, but one thing he said stuck with me — that in the current era, using faith language in music is as much of a “fuck the establishment” rebel-type move as was the punk movement’s cries of “anarchy” which, as he noted, have now been thoroughly co-opted.
I always forget that Family Force 5 is actually a Christian band because their music is so much fun and about dancing and stuff.
I always forget UnderOath is a Christian band because their music makes me want to kill people.