Yay for independent music!| Posted January 26, 2011
Christian music has a polite, pretty face. You can experience it on Christian radio and hear it in your local Christian music store. I'm not knocking it, but in my neck of the woods, what the radio plays is generally closer to easy-listening than innovative rock. The great surprise for many is that Christian music also has a deep well of underground artists who never get airplay, advertising or label support. For those who suggest that Christian music is bland, welcome to the creative underground.
They Sang as They Slew (TSATS) hails from Toccoa, Georgia, about 50 miles from Athens. TSATS is the new incarnation of a band called Canary. Here is the band's self-description:
"Started as a side project to a much more well known rock outfit in 1995, Canary began to play tunes to pass time...the time passed and the side project became the main project. After numerous name and line-up changes Canary began to play in earnest in 1999. Thoughtfully independent, concerned more with freedom of expression and artistic integrity, Canary operates with a strong "do it yourself" paradigm firmly rooted in place... Like smoke, Canary vanished...but was re-invented as They Sang As They Slew."
So what has TSATS done to earn 5 stars? It took me a while to figure that out myself. When it arrived in the mail I put the CD in my car and left it in the player for months. Eventually I realized that I had not wanted to change to something else in a long time. OK, that proves it's got serious musical chops. That's when I took the CD to the big rig in the music room and gave it some serious attention.
Check out these lyrics from "I Want to See with My Eyes Closed."
I want to stare into the sun without blinking
I want to walk through walls
I can see with my eyes closed
I want to know what you're thinking
I want to take a new pill and start living
And that's not all
I want to see you in the right clothes
Turn those cameras off
There is nothing here to see
We traded it all for a form of vanity
Turn those cameras on
We've got something that you might want to see
Gonna strip it all down and walk transparently
I want to stare into the light without blinking
I want to make the calls
I want to see with my eyes closed
I want to know what I'm thinking
I want to feel a new thrill about living and shake the fall
I want to see us in the white robes
I love the contrast between the earthy first stanza and the Spiritual second one. The first is all about powers that would be nice to posses and making things easier with a pill. Oh, and make sure you dress fashionably. In the second, it's about being able to see God clearly, making our own decisions regardless of peer pressure, understanding ourselves in light of who God is, sanctification, and the hope of heaven. Brilliant, poetic and thought provoking.
Then there's this stanza from "Death in the City:"
I spooned my soul
It measured well
Despite the words and songs of my youth
I never knew that one could be so unwhole
This world rots your bones
But there's One who comes in kindness
Won't you pull off your blindness?
Using "spooning one's soul" as a metaphor for taking a Spiritual inventory is evocative, and I like the richness of saying that one is "so unwhole" rather than something trite. Not all the lyrics are this clear, which adds to the drama of discovery.
Musically original, you can hear quiet influences from Pink Floyd, Lovedrug and U2. Aside from being wonderfully melodic, the music does a great job of supporting the lyrics thematically. A favorite example is the song "Get Well," which starts off as the song "Palace Arms" played backwards. After a full minute, the sound get brighter and brighter until it breaks like a wave. As it fades you hear a clear acoustic guitar begin to play to the lyric:
I fumbled into the daylight out of hell
I'm finished trying
I'm done dying
Broke the spell
For in the gloom, the words rang out like a bell
Come on
Get well
I got well
It's a stunning example of creativity. The backwards section is representative of a confused life at odds with God, followed by the clarity of a life cured. When I hear "Get Well" I'm powerfully reminded of grace and the done-ness of our faith.
This is a true "WOW" album, full of great musical expression and thoughtful, challenging lyrics. It's a creative masterpiece. Too bad you'll never hear it on Christian radio. You can, however, hear it on TSATS' MySpace page and buy it from Northern Records:
to add lyrics if not listed.
