Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
   --1 Timothy 4:12

This Bible verse stares me in the face as I prepare to critique the latest album from Jump5, a group of Christian kids who have just released their third album of high-octane, kid-friendly pop. I guess it's amusing that I of all people should be reviewing such an album, since I started out as one of the biggest detractors of the whole "teen pop" resurgence when it first began to invade the Christian music industry. More recently, I've made some concessions to the genre as it has diversified and groups like Plus One and ZOEgirl have started to diversify their music and take more control of the creative process without completely alienating the fans that they picked up when they were little more than pretty faces with dance moves and some catchy songs written for them. And in all fairness, I've liked acts such as Jaci Velasquez and Avalon all along - while their music might be targeted to more of an all-ages crowd, and one could accuse much of it as being manufactured since the artists themselves had very little involvement in the writing overall, it's pretty much the same thing with some small twists. So there's no point in getting on my critical high horse and claiming that music made by teenagers, for teenagers, is completely not worth listening to. I'm not even the target audience here. And I hated the fact that people looked down on me when I was a simple pop loving, Mickey Mouse Club-watching teenager. So I don't want to be a source of further prejudice. All ages need music that they can relate to, right?

Well, here's the problem - this isn't music made by teenagers, for teenagers. This is music made by adults, performed by teenagers, for tweens. (That's the 9-12 year old crowd.) That was always the plan with Jump5, ever since their debut in 2001. Once glance at the excessively happy girls and boys pictured suspended in midair as I flipped through a copy of CCM Magazine was enough to frighten me. Kids this age have record deals? And a cursory listen to their first single "Spinnin' Around" was enough of a warning shot to keep me away for a while. Thoroughly pre-processed dance pop, with high-pitched female vocals dominating the landscape as they belted out inane lyrics... I suppose I could've handled the style if the lyrics served more of a purpose than simply to stick in my head and to set up an energetic dance routine. Heck, I might've even been able to stomach the lyrics if the style showed some amount of creativity. (It's possible in the teen pop genre - I've maintained this since the beginning even though I've seen little evidence to back up my claim.) But nope, there was no reason for me to subject myself to enough of the group's music to write a coherent review.

Until now, of course. Hey, it's the year 2003, and the teen pop acts are slowly realizing that the sugar rush is getting old quickly. So most of them, by this point, have attempted to spice up their sound with a little bit of R&B, more real interests, more personal songwriting... something to grab the attention of those who aren't normally into the genre. The trend for most of 'em has been to suddenly go "rock", incorporating thicker beats and all manner of electric guitar effects in the hopes that rock fans might take them seriously. While that hasn't quite worked out for most of 'em, I can at least say that it's resulted in something closer to what I consider good ear candy. Heck, even Hillary Duff can sound good on the surface with a little crunch mixed into the confection. So it should come as no surprise that this trend is reflected in Jump5's new epic-length release, Accelerate. (I'm using the term "epic" liberally here - the thing has 10 songs, but I guess it beats the 8 songs with remixes that appeared on their last disc.)

It turns out that Accelerate is a fitting title for this album, since it does serve to rev up this group's sound quite a bit. Each and every song on this album is dominated by guitars and a truckload of programming effects. Oh, and the aging-but-still-perky vocals of the group's members, of course. As you might expect, the majority of this album's material is written by a lot of the Nashville faithful - names like Dan Needham, Lynn Nichols, Dan Muckala, Tedd Tjornhom, and Mark Hammond show up throughout the booklet. Save for one song on which a group member has a co-writing credit, the entire batch of songs appears to have been assembled from the ground up for the group to sing. Aside from this "original" material, the group also covers one recent Christian radio hit, and three (yes, three) pop standards that were written before any of the members were even born. See, when you've got four cover songs on a 10-song album, and the rest of the material is lyrically lightweight dance-pop (for the most part), I can only think of one thing to compare it to: The aforementioned Mickey Mouse Club. Because that's what those kids did - they danced and sang other people's songs. And they were even rather good at it. Eventually, they got precocious enough (well, a few scattered members anyway) to start recording albums of the stuff along with "original material". I guess it worked for a TV show. But for Jump5, a group of Christian kids signed to a major CCM label with a bit more of a purpose in mind (putting the Christian faith into terms kids will relate to and music that they can enjoy), this all seems rather lightweight and disposable, and not that useful for accomplishing said purpose.

Sure, the album isn't a total throwaway. I'll be the first to admit that a few of the songs are really catchy and show an ounce of musical flair on the part of the writers and players. At times, they sound like Avalon, Jr. - which is not the worst comparison in the world, when you put it in perspective. The problem is that I just don't see much of these songs hitting their mark. The original songs seem to want to hook kids in with all of the hyperactive sounds, but with a few exceptions, the lyrics are the same standard fare you'd find in a lot of harmless mainstream pop - I'm happy, life is good, love is good, etc. I'm not one to expect highly specific Jesus references out of all Christian artists - but there certainly are a lot of older artists who would get bashed for writing material that was this generic! Is this just to help them have continued success on Radio Disney, or what? I guess it's great that kids have a "positive alternative" available to them, where parents know that the lyrics aren't questionable and so forth... but I think it's that attempt to please an older audience that makes this album fall flat. We've got three cover songs on here that are going to be recognized by mostly adults. Most of the rest of it sounds like kids singing songs that were written for adult artists' albums, but didn't make the cut. What this says to me is that an assumption is being made, that kids don't really think much about lyrics as long as the music is catchy. I don't know if I'm ready to assume that's as true as such a marketing strategy seems to want us adults to believe. And that, not the actual age of the members, is my main beef with Jump5.

So with that, let's get into the actual songs - some of which aren't all that bad.

Do Ya
I was highly amused when I saw this song title on the CD jacket for the first time. Upon popping the album in, and being greeted with an excessively programmed version of a familiar melody, I realized that the group was, in fact, covering Michelle Tumes's first foray into a "poppier" style of music. The normally mellow, Enya-influenced artist had written a more pop/rock-style track about longing to be loved unconditionally that worked even though it was completely out of character. (Her subsequent transformation into a pop princess didn't go over as well.) I suppose having Jump5 cover this one gets it out to a younger crowd (it's a good message, I'm down with that) while simultaneously getting that last bit of mileage out of an artist no longer on their roster. In short, it works, because it's supposed to be cute and perky (especially with the "Do do do ya love me" line that gets repeated in the chorus), and because the lyrics are personal enough, at least to the author, that I'm sure some kids will relate to the specificity (especially the line about not cleaning one's room for weeks and weeks... whoops, I still relate to that one!)

Wonderful
What's that I hear... acoustic guitars? The first "original" track on the album actually comes as a pleasant surprise, a reasonable attempt at summarizing the loving patience of God to a younger audience, many of whom may still have leftover ideas from childhood about God being a mean parent or whatever. Nothing terribly poetic here, and like many of the album's songs, it sacrifices focus on a singular theme in order to stick in an easy chorus - but it's definitely one that will invade your brain. There's something about the melody as the girls' voices shimmy down and back up (they handle the lion's share of the vocal work on this album, by the way) that is remarkably infectious without being over-the-top corny. Even the spoken-word bridge, which briefly paraphrases part of 1 Corinthians 13, isn't as contrived as you might expect. Probably the best thing I've heard from the group so far.

We Are Family
Prepare yourself for eye-rolling cover #1. Yep, the group redid the old Sister Sledge song. I hear this one's being used as a theme song on Radio Disney, as part of an initiative to get kids to spend more time with their families. Hey, I'm down with that. Now if only they hadn't mistaken what is basically a sorority anthem for a testament to the strength of the nuclear family, we might be getting somewhere. Amidst the rapid-fire drum programming, rubbery bass that sounds like it came from a video game, and churning electric guitars kicked into overdrive, the girls happily bounce through most of the song while the guys are relegated to echoing "I got all my sisters with me" in the background (you'd think a cross-gender group would have at least interjected "brothers" to make it more inclusive), and adding some sorely dated shouts of "Get up, get up!" into the middle of the song. Perhaps they want to sound like Superchic[k] or something, but it ends up sounding like there was a rap break that was edited out (I'm sure there wasn't, really... but what a frightening thought!) I suppose this rendition might get a chuckle from adults who recognize the song... but I'm sure far better covers of it have been recorded.

Pressure
This would be the one song on the album where issues directly relating to the targeted age group are addressed head-on. The song opens with a funky, skittering beat, over which one of the group members goes into valley girl mode as she tells her friend all about a party where some other girls tried to persuade her to do unnamed things that she knew she'd regret later. A good message, but the delivery is embarrassing. Once she starts singing, it's not so bad - more like something you might've found on Stacie Orrico's first disc. The song's got a fair amount of attitude to it, which works for a song that reaffirms the need to stand up against peer pressure, and it even asks the members of the "in" crowd who are doing the pushing, "What about your self-respect?" Too bad most of the song gets consigned to vague lines like "I'm gonna do what I have to do" and "Don't have any doubt what life's about." Once again, the guys are pretty much a side show, interjecting white-boy rap-isms on the sidelines whole the girls get drug through vocorder hell. And it's still one of the better tracks on the album.

Why Do I Do
I was a bit surprised at two things about this song. One was that it was co-written by all three members of ZOEgirl. (Perhaps it was a track that didn't make the cut for Different Kind of Free?) The second was that, aside from the title, this straight-up pop rock song made absolutely no mention of the dilemma so eloquently described by Paul in Romans 7, when he laments doing what he does not want to do and not being able to do what he wants to do. The song is basically ridden with clichés about how "Every day is showin' me something new" and "It doesn't get any better", and basically everything is hunky-dory. There's even what I call a "Yoda-ized" lyric, where you can tell the songwriters were desperate due to how they reworded a sentence: "If I could learn a thing or two from You/Then popular opinion I could ignore." Don't know about you, but I feel a bit ripped off. Perhaps I wouldn't if this had actually been written by the group members (all songwriters have to start somewhere), but I expect more from ZoeGirl. As it stands, it sounds like Avalon on a really bad day.

Way of the World
Okay, now I feel like a real doofus. I don't even understand this song. If you weren't paying attention, you'd figure this was another bouncy pop song, infused with some rather pedestrian electric guitar playing, dedicated to how cheerful and lovey-dovey God's love makes us all feel. Sure, it's superficial... but that's the least of my problems. How on Earth is this "the way of the world"? I'd like to think I've got at least the 6th grade reading level required to comprehend the lyrics here, but when I hear the phrase "the way of the world", I think sin, rebellion, things that are in opposition to God. Not the happy life described in your average Christian pop song. Perhaps it's a play on the phrase like dc Talk's "So Help Me God" or Steve Taylor's "Jesus Is for Losers"... yeah, right, like that would ever happen. It's an example of thoroughly generic songwriting that doesn't even bother to explain the terms it tosses out, that's what it is. "World" can mean a lot of different things. This makes the line "It's the way of the world of You and me" rather vague, even if I know from context that "You" refers to God. Would you care to expound, songwriters?

Every Part of Me
I suppose Jump5 had to slow down for a ballad at some point. (I won't complain since it signals a drop in the "perky" factor.) This one is decent, actually - the acoustic guitars and syncopated rhythms make it sound like something from Out of Eden's No Turning Back CD. (Not that Jump5 sounds anything close to an R&B group, mind you... but OOE has had their fair share of pop crossover moments.) This one really does sound like a love song, two young people experiencing an exhilarating feeling for the first time... but looking at the capital "You"s in the liner notes squelches that idea. Basically it's a mellower continuation on the general theme from tracks 2, 5, and 6, and I guess the lyrics fare a little better this time even if they're still nothing terribly innovative. It's probably got the most crossover potential out of any non-cover song on the album, I guess. I'm really wondering at this point where the guys are.

Walking on Sunshine
You may groan again now. Cover #2 has arrived, and actually, the 80's hit by Katarina and the Waves is pretty much the perfect song for a sickeningly happy pop group to remake, simply because it's a song about being sickeningly happy. As for why this is here - I'm guessing it's for no other reason than because the kids liked it, or because the parents will recognize it. Actually, I'm wondering what the kids who are new to it will think, since the song's basically about a lover with a case of wanderlust who drops the lucky girl a letter (we're talking snail mail here, people) whenever he feels like coming around again. Humorously enough, the song ends up being 2/3 of a Mukala reunion (anyone remember that band?), because Dan Muckala handles the programming and Alex Nifong nails the guitar riffs. Too bad the souped-up modern sound forgot to take the dance track with it - it sounds like it never left the 80's. With these things you either have to update 'em all the way or go totally retro. Doing it halfway just seems odd to me. Not that it matters - as soon as those helium-infused vocals get to the "whoa"s in the chorus, I'm ready to run away screaming. (If you want to hear a truly fun remake of this song, I'd suggest Ghoti Hook's version instead.)

All Because of You
This mid-tempo track, which manages to be more FFH than Avalon, is a bit of a milestone for the group, since it was actually co-written by Jump5er Brandon Hargest. Interestingly, the girls are still at the forefront here (perhaps his sister Brittany Hargest takes the lead?), and however much Brandon contributed to the lyrics, it sounds like he's able to imitate the group's regular writers flawlessly, so don't expect much of a difference here except for the fact that the tempo isn't super-charged like your average Jump5 song. It's got more of a "breezy" feel to it, and the guitars and drums are a little more organic in nature, if that makes any sense. I don't mean to knock Brandon for trying - as I said, all songwriters have to start somewhere. I can always hope that over time, he and some of the other members will step up and write something that describes them more as individuals and less as a figure-head pop group. (I made the same wish regarding Plus One, and it came true, so I can always hope.)

Shining Star
And finally, just when you thought the classics were safe, Jump5 goes and drags out this funky little number from Earth, Wind & Fire. While I think this song was musically rather accomplished for its time (and R&B-inflected group with some tasty guitar licks, you don't hear too much of that even today), I'll make no apologies in saying that this song's lyrics were lame to begin with, so there's not much there for Jump5 to ruin. ("Make your body big and strong"? Puh-leeze.) It's the classic song of generic encouragement to anyone and everyone... the kind of thing that would work well for Radio Disney, actually. Once again, the group gets run through the vocal ringer with all of the digitized effects, and while we finally get to hear a little more of the guys here, it's clear that the whole modern boy-band vocal tack doesn't translate well to the soulful nature of the original. That, and it ends an unfocused album on an abrupt note. Not that I expected a deep, overarching theme to turn up in an album like Accelerate... but ending with this one gives it a similar off-kilter flavor to the left-field Andraé Crouch cover that ended Avalon's first album.

And there you have it. What should be something bold and unique for kids to listen to ends up being a helter-skelter pop offering that isn't sure whether to target Christian Hit Radio deejays, kids, or the parents that will have to sit through the album with those kids. I'll give 'em props for trying some of the cover songs on for size... but my guess that it would have worked better as a concert-only venture.

I know somebody out there will cry foul and ask how I dare insult these kids when they have so much talent - I mean, obviously if I saw the dance and gymnastics routine that apparently inspired the group's name, I'd change my tune, right? Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again - dancing doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of difference when you're listening to a CD. I'm not the primary audience here, and so I really don't care if the music caters to me. I'm just not sure it's going to stick with the age group that it wants to cater to. And the group that is actually the same age as the members of Jump5? Fuggedaboudit! They might not all be nihilistic mallrats who think Linkin Park is the greatest band ever to walk the face of the Earth, but all the same, they're likely to be a bit baffled that kids their age are making music for kids the age of their little sisters. It's a mixed bag, folks, and I honestly can't imagine who would enjoy it all the way through.

I can see Jump5 accomplishing more someday... perhaps the group's fans will age as the group ages and they'll try something new (and hopefully a little less superficial). Just because a group has a good message that kids need to hear (God's love, acceptance for who you are, resisting the pressures that the world puts on you) doesn't mean that generic terms are adequate to sum it up in a way that really hits home for them. I'm not a parent yet, but that's the way I see it. Anything less would be talking down to them, and honestly, even a lot of Christian music aimed at adults has that problem. Jump5 is hardly the first act... their music just happens to be a little more obnoxious. If none of that bugs you, then by all means, have fun with this one.

(And look on the bright side. It's better than Plus One's first album.)

ALBUM WORTH:
Do Ya $1
Wonderful $1.50
We Are Family -$1
Pressure $.50
Why Do I Do $0
Way of the World -$.50
Every Part of Me $.50
Walking on Sunshine $.50
All Because of You $0
Shining Star -$1
TOTAL: $1.50

Group Members:
Chris Fedun
Brandon Hargest
Brittany Hargest
Lesley Moore
Libby Hodges

Website: http://www.jump5.com

Recommended: No