Switchfoot
Hello Hurricane
Atlantic
By Al Kaufman
What the hell is Christian Rock anyway? When Bono sings, "And the battle's just begun/To claim the victory Jesus won" on U2's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," is it Christian rock? Why can't it just be rock?
Switchfoot is Christian Rock, but they work really, really hard to be thought of as just rock. Their songs are full of hope, redemption, and, if not exactly Biblical imagery, at least imagery that would fit in the Bible. "I'm a wandering soul/I'm still walking the line that leads me home" sings Jon Foreman on "Enough to Let Me Go." It could be a love song to a girl, but it's more of a letter to God, asking if God will let him fail so that he can find his way back on his own.
So, Switchfoot is a Christian band, so what? No big deal, except that as with most musicians, the passion tends to get in the way of the artistry. Their anti-drug anthem, "Mess of Me," hits as subtly as an anvil on the head. "I've made a mess of me/I want to spend the rest of my life alive," screams Foreman. Deep, man.
But Switchfoot, and most Christian rock bands for that matter, is known for its bombastic anthems, sort of a U2-lite. The band delivers them in the opener, "Needle and Haystack Life," as well as a few others, such as "Your Love Is a Song," and "Bullet Soul" (in which Foreman screams "Are you ready to GO?"). The songs have a rich, full sound and uplifting message. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing original there, either.
On this, their seventh CD, the band has changed a few things up. First off, they left Columbia records and built their own studio, which allowed them to work on their own time schedule (which usually began after a morning of surfing). While on their last couple of CDs they spent more time commenting on the decay of modern culture, Foreman and company took a more introspective approach for Hello Hurricane. They also brought in a bit of a techno feel -- which works in a radio-friendly way -- and some spacey, sonic sounds -- which don't work at all. And, of course, they have their pleading ballads (a few too many of them in the second half of the CD), some of which ("Sing It Out") slowly build to the point that the listener awaits the choir to join in.
It's all quite pretty and quite passionate, but ultimately boring. Switchfoot is a band of good musicians and good people who write very predictable music. It's a formula that has been very successful for them in the past, and will continue to be so in the future. It just won't make them revolutionary musicians.
Switchfoot plays The Loft at Center Stage on Tuesday, November 24. Purchase tickets here.
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