When Matt Hoops and Co. set out to generate musical fusion under the banner of Relient K in 1998, I’m sure they had no idea just how far their efforts would take them. Just five short years later the quartet were nominated for a Grammy thanks to their breakthrough third album, “Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right…but Three Do”, according to ChristianPost.com. The album also brought the band a Dove award (handed out by the Gospel Music association) for Modern Rock Album of the Year in 2004, and again for their follow-up effort in 2006, “Mmhmm”, reports AceShowBiz.com. The album is by far their most commercially popular one to date. The band’s talents aren’t limited to just music, however; the band also wrote a novel in 2004, entitled “The Complex Infrastructure Known as the Female Mind”, which is chalk full of sound advice on girls, and how best to go about interacting with one. The band is still alive and kicking (not to mention making music), as evidenced by their latest album release, “Collapsible Lung”, just last year.
[new page = 10. “High of 75” ]
Album: Mmhmm
A rigorous swift acoustic opening sets the tone for the rest of the track, which, amid all the pleasing chaos, offers up a most intriguing thought: One often enjoys life more when they are happy to be alive.
[new page = 9. “Life After Death and Taxes” ]
Album: Mmhmm
This intro is even better than the aforementioned one. I’m immensely partial to clever twists to old clichés, so that definitely aids its cause. The band shows off it’s surprisingly proficiency at screaming, amid their frantic cries for fresh starts and forgiveness.
[new page = 8. “More Than Useless” ]
Album: Mmhmm
A simple yet catchy intro guitar riff gives way to a lyrical composition consisting of one’s frustrations with their own incompetence and in inabilities. This in turn leads to a robust chorus (spoken by the Him, perhaps?) ensuring the singer that they are not a failure, and will therefore endure and experience triumph when all is said and done.
[new page = 7. “Maybe It’s Maybelline” ]
Album: The Anatomy of the Tongue and Cheek
This track right here is one of those rare ones that invokes light-hearted tones even though it is lyrically expressing distaste for the finger-pointing and blame game that humans play seemingly all too often. I won’t even try to explain the title either; so they’re attributing this human flaw to….a leading make-up producer? It’s so brilliant that it is beyond my ability to fathom.
[new page = 6. “Less Is More” ]
Album: The Anatomy of the Tongue and Cheek
The ending track on the album (which is yet another exquisitely crafted piece of language by the way), the band professes their desire to practice what so many Christians have trouble doing: taking less, all the while realizing that the more you do so, the more you actually gain. A hidden track at the end of the song that ironically professes that the more Skittles and Combos one has, the better, is unequivocally amusing as well.
[new page = 5. “Pressing On” ]
Album: The Anatomy of the Tongue and Cheek
This track is without a doubt the happiest song Relient K has ever produced. Themes of liberation, rebirthing, and hope run ramped, and I can’t help but feel uplifted and inspired upon “pressing” it against my ear lobes. Youthful and juvenile to a “T”, this track is sure to please anyone else as well who decides to give it a listen.
[new page = 4. “I So Hate Consequences” ]
Album: Mmhmm
Gut wrenching and emotional, this song is the epitome of how one would describe feeling disgusted and repulsed by themselves and their actions. The fear of those repercussions is touched upon as well, hence the title. But in the end the singer realizes that, much like how a father welcomes his son, they can stop running at any point and fall back into the loving arms of their maker, thus restoring and rectifying their being once again.
[new page = 3. “Be My Escape” ]
Album: Mmhmm
Anxiety and distress takes on a whole new form here, from the opening riff all the way until the finale, which plays out very much like a collapsing of wills, surrendering oneself to the entity that they should have all along. The chorus’s piano rhythms are also a perfect match for it’s insistent and adamant tones.
[new page = 2. “When I Go Down” ]
Album: Mmhmm
This track is really countless ones all put together, commencing solemn and somber, up ticking ever so slightly in the middle, and finally finishing somewhere in between the two. Just as Relient K’s most joyous effort made this list, it’s most serious one has as well. The chord picking progression is simple, yet profound.
[new page = 1. “Sadie Hawkins Dance” ]
Album: The Anatomy of the Tongue and Cheek
Don’t get me wrong here; this is a top-notch song. But it’s top spot here might be due to some of the nostalgic childhood bias that lives inside of me. But no matter. In contrast to the #2 spot, we return to jubilant and jolly version of Relient K. Possibly the best song intro ever fabricated ever (not just including Relient K, but all music out there), the classic subject matter of “adolescent guy is fond adolescent girl” has never been expressed better.