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Friday, January 21, 2011

Lightweights-Falling Up, The Classic Crime, House of Heroes

In calling these bands lightweights, I'm not trying to say that they're weak or that their music doesn't have an impact.  Their music simply falls on the (comparatively) lighter side of the rock spectrum.  Whether it's alternative rock, punk rock, or whether I've got the terms completely wrong, these bands play some pretty good music that is, perhaps, a little more user-friendly.

Falling Up  Lead vocals/rhythm guitar/keyboard-Jessy Ribordy, Drums-Josh Shroy, Bass/Keyboard-Jeremy Miller

This band is an interesting mix of styles.  There's definitely some metal sound to the guitars, but there's also keyboards and sometimes even synthesized vocals.  It's kind of hard for me to describe.  But basically these guys have a pop-rock/metal sound.  They tend to be fairly explicit about God in their lyrics and have a lot of songs that deal with our relationships with Him.  Some of their songs could almost be called worship songs, at least lyrically.  I like listening to just a song or two of theirs at a time, but they definitely have found their sound.  If you like Switchfoot or Relient K, Falling Up might be your kind of band.

New Hope Generation

The Classic Crime  Vocals/guitar-Matt MacDonald, Bass-Alan Clark, Guitar-Robert Negrin, Guitar/vocals-Justin DuQue, Drums/vocals-Paul Erickson

The Classic Crime is one of those tough cases that shows that the term "Christian music" can be inappropriate.  They are not specifically a Christian band, by their own admission.  However, I am still putting them up here for three main reasons.  First, several of the band members are Christians, and I think that shapes some of the lyrics.  Secondly, while many of the songs can be interpreted as being about relationships in the more general sense, some still ring true for me about my relationship with God.  My last, and biased, reason for including them is that they are from Seattle.  Local music and all that, right?  Anyway, the Classic Crime has a softer, almost indie sound (again, they're from Seattle), although on their newest album, Vagabonds, they get more aggressive.  Consequently, I like Vagabonds more than their earlier work.  But here's some of both.

Who Needs Air
The Fight
Cheap Shots

House of Heroes Colin Rigsby and Jared Rigsby, Tim Skipper, A.J. Babcock

I just recently found this band, thanks to Pandora (sometimes it's worth the thousands of commercials).  House of Heroes tends to be an alternative rock band, thought they hit both edges of that range.  I don't know if the deal is still available, but I found several of their songs (Lose Control, If, and In the Valley of the Dying Sun) available for a free EP download on Amazon.com.  Turns out it was a great deal.

Lose Control (Sorry, but this is the only non-live version of the song that I could find)

In the Valley of the Dying Sun



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