It can be exciting and frustrating at the same time to watch young artists grow up. In today's music industry, it's becoming more and more common for a kid to score a record deal before they're even old enough to drive, and suddenly find their words and their music (and sometimes the music that is pre-fabricated for them) under extreme scrutiny that can make the high school clique lifestyle look inviting by comparison. I can certainly remember being rather young myself, and being excited for up-and-coming teenage acts like Rebecca St. James and Jaci Velasquez as their songs won over the affection of Christian adults everywhere. I'm sure some of you have similar stories - there are even long-established artists like Amy Grant that started out as innocent teens who just happened to have good voices and perhaps the ability to turn out a good lyrics or two. As time goes by, it seems the burden on such artists to "prove themselves" with a crowd of adult industry veterans standing over them and trying to mold and shape them gets more and more intense - an interesting but scary process to undergo.

And then sometimes, you get a young act like the Christian pop-punk band Relient K who just does more or less what they want and has a blast with it. When the foursome entered the scene three years ago, not even having finished high school, it was a no-brainer that their style would immediately connect with a number of kids their age and younger. Being the cynical person over 20 that I was, I nitpicked over their first disc, finding a few classic tunes (who could ever forget that "Marilyn Manson song" that's going to haunt the band for the rest of their days?), but overall having a difficult time getting into their style, partially because I'm not into as much punk-influenced stuff, and partially because the lyrics were really hit-and-miss on that album. Still, the boys had a knack for catchy tunes and great harmonies, and they were a blast in concert, so I was still eager to hear what they'd come up with next. Their second disc, The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek, showed definite maturity, a little diversity in style, and still managed to be an overall fun album, only bogging down on a few tracks where the band got a tad too preachy. I saw them live no less than three times during the lifecycle of that album, and they always amused and impressed me. These hard-working fellows never seemed to slow down, touring relentlessly and even taking the time to record a silly song for last fall's VeggieTales movie, and quickly following that up with the release of yet another full-length album.

That album, entitled Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do (I'm really scared of whatever title they come up with to beat that one on their fourth album), might just prove once and for all that Relient K is not just one of the top young artists in Christian music, but one of the best acts Christian music has to offer, period. Boasting a playful musical style that is sometimes rough-and-tumble but almost always easy to sing along to, Two Lefts is the next stride toward lyrical maturity that most of us expected of the band after the leap between their debut and Anatomy, and yet, thankfully, the band's sillier, zanier side shows no signs of slowing down. Puns and witty culture references fly back and forth, energetic guitar riffs collide with schizophrenic tempo changes... it all adds up to an album that would drive punk purists insane, but manages to be a killer listening experience for those of us who refuse to let their inner teenager die.

Chapstick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry
OK, so who doesn't own a cell phone?
Well, I don't need to ask friends, so I guess I'll have to wait a lot
'Til 8 o'clock comes around...
The record starts off with a wonderfully frenetic guitar riff and drum beat, over which Matt Thiessen's first words come stumbling out in their typical goofy manner. It's tough to top opening tracks that are as good as "Hello McFly" or as zany as "Kick-Off", but the band scores on this treatise about theme parks, cell phones, and apparently whatever else was on Matt's mind when he wrote it. It's tough to make sense of it at first, and the title only comes into play during the bridge, but I think it's basically an analysis of some of the wrong turns he's made in some of his relationships. That ends up being a recurring theme on several of these songs, which I guess might be one explanation for the album title. The song gets a little bogged down at the end when the band pulls off an unexpected shift into a slower tempo (it's tricky to make such a thing work), before capping the song off with the contradictory lines "I don't want to be perceived the way I am/I just want to be perceived the way I am." Come again?

Mood Ring
If it's drama you want, then look no further
It's like "The Real World" meets "Boy Meets World" meets "Days of Our Lives"...
The second track kicks off immediately, with Matt wasting no time in informing us of his woes when it comes to dealing with the ladies. I'm guessing some of RK's female fans might be initially offended as he seems to go off on a rant about being the constant victim of feminine mood swings, but you have to remember that the whole thing is, to reuse a phrase, tongue-in-cheek. His proposed solution to the problem is as follows: "Let's get emotional girls to all wear mood rings, so we'll be tipped off to when they're ticked off". He goes on through a few more amusing verses, describing in greater detail the colors that these rings will turn to reflect various emotional states - those who would take offense should note that he's not saying they don't have a right to these emotions. He's just saying he'd like some advance warning. I think it's a drop-dead hilarious track, especially when the punkish musical backdrop falls away at the end and Matt solemnly sings over a lone, finger-picked guitar: "Play it back in slow motion, so I may understand the complex infrastructure known as the female mind". The song then suddenly ends as he comments under his breath about what a bad line that was.

Falling Out
I won't think twice or even three times
About taking a gamble with You...
The album's third track is the first of a few that deal more directly with the band's spirituality. It's a mid-tempo track with a little piano sprinkled in - reminds me a bit of Something Corporate, actually. The song's title is used to describe the various ways in which Matt has fallen short in his walk with God, and the chorus finds him repentant, though this is expressed rather humorously as he describes the dirty carpet his penitent position finds his face buried in. There are parts of the song that seem a little awkward to me - the line "Every angle's covered with just another band-aid" seems a bit non-sequitur when tacked onto the chorus, but I'm sure it has to do with the metaphorical cuts and bruises caused by sin.

Forward Motion
And the heating bill went through the roof
And the wall I knocked down was the proof
That my landlord needed to kick me out...
Matt Hoopes starts this one off with a wonderfully choppy guitar riff before the band catapults into a bouncy 6/8 rhythm accompanied by rough "whoa"s from one of the guys in between each of Matt Thiessen's lyrics, which once again deal with the damage he's done to himself. Here, he seems to be dealing with regret caused by sin, and how he keeps reliving his worst moments, feeling sorry for himself, and "banging my head against the wall for so long it seems I knocked it down". It fits perfectly with the music - I can picture a music video for this song where the guys are jumping around and trashing an apartment or something like that. The chorus is simple but effective in summing up his frustration - "I struggle with forward motion". It's definitely one of the moments where bouncing around between different rhythms and tempos works well for the band - it's reckless and fun. I love the piano outro, too.

In Love with the Eighties (Pink Tux to the Prom)
What could go wrong when you're the President of the Breakfast Club?
The previous track cuts off without warning, and a purposefully cheesy keyboard intro signals the introduction of a silly song that's sure to bring back memories for fans who grew up during the same era as the members of the band. Between John Mayer, Daily Planet, and a few others, I've heard a lot of songs about 80's nostalgia lately, but this one is probably the song that does the best job of capturing the musical mood, simply because the keyboards and familiar backbeat are sickeningly convincing. The band still manages to coat the song's liquid center with a hard shell exterior by infusing the chorus with the usual pop-punk power chords, of course. This one first popped up on a free EP that the band gave out at their concerts on their Back to the Few Tour last fall, and while the music and Matt's stories about his older brother trying to score with the ladies are somewhat amusing, the song suffers during the chorus, which tries to be funny simply by referencing the 80's ("I'm only gonna pierce my left ear", "My favorite band will always be Tears for Fears", etc.) without really saying anything witty about all of its fads. The song also has a bit of a sudden and shoddy fade-out at the end before the next song cuts in - but then, a lot of 80's songs had shoddy fade-outs at the end, so maybe that's intentional.

College Kids
I'm poor, I'm starving, I'm flat broke, I've got no cash to spend
Sold all my books for front row tickets to Dave Matthews Band...
As much as you might want to argue that the music has mellowed from what punk rock's forefathers came up with, you can't deny that the spirit of punk is alive and well on this playfully rebellious little number. It seems Thiessen is lamenting a failed attempt at college survival in this song. The band's rhythms and melodies are as bouncy as ever, recapturing the fun spirit of past numbers like "Breakdown" and "May the Horse Be with You" as Matt laments that "80 grand later I found out that I had learned/Is that you should show up to take your finals and your midterms". How many of us crammed our way through college and found that we forgot everything we had learned right after graduation? How many of us gave up trying? In addition to just being funny, I think the song offers a little bit of understanding to the latter crowd. Sometimes it's hard to remember, in this career-driven society, that higher education isn't meant for everybody. Just because you're not one of the people who were cut out for it doesn't mean your life is destined to be worthless. Add to that little affirmation a punchy chorus with an odd pause right in the middle of it, and yet another brilliant gamelan from Mr. Thiessen - "I'll take calligraphy and then I'll make a fake degree" - and you've got another RK classic on your hands.

Trademark
I'll kill the thing that turns me away
Amputate the arm that makes me disobey...
The other featured track on the Employee of the Month EP shows up out here, transitioning seamlessly out of "College Kids". It's definitely one of the best-suited tracks for Christian Hit Radio on this album with its punchy, immediately recognizable intro, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a little more straightforward about our predisposition to sin and the struggle to fight off all of our bad habits, but that doesn't mean Matt's lyrics are less witty. The song is just less goofy overall than the songs surrounding it. I have to say that it's almost uncomfortable how well I relate to the words "It's my trademark move to turn my back on You", and later, "Sometime soon after that, You'll see me come crawling back." Matt is certainly in touch with the concept of repentance on this record, and it's nice to see that light-hearted humor wins out over the temptation most Christian bands face to imitate the self-loathing common in mainstream rock these days.

Hoopes I Did It Again
What's going on, what's up with all our friends?
Let's start a rumor just to find out where it ends...
With a title like that, you just know you're asking for trouble. Thankfully, the obvious pun on the dreaded Britney Spears hit sounds nothing like candy-coated teenybopper pop. It seems to be a song that arose out of conversations between the two Matts (the band's guitarist being part of the song's namesake) about how easily rumors spread in a small town with a bunch of bored teenagers. The guys seem to have an obsession with cell phones these days - one rings at the beginning of the song, and much of the first verse is a conversation between the two guys about what in the world they're going to do to evade their boredom for the evening. The song has good intentions, but at times it gets mired down in its specificity (including a random guy named "Dan Bakitus" who gets mentioned out of nowhere - Matt's enunciation on that name could use a little work!) But I love the pun at the end where he remarks that "We always say in Canton you can't en-joy yourself." Overall, not a bad track, but it probably would've fit in better with tracks like "17 Magazine" from their first album.

Over Thinking
Don't touch the positive with the negative end
'Cause after all of the sparks, you're left alone in the dark...
Another mid-tempo track crops up here - I have to say, the band isn't as interesting in this mode. Matt seems preoccupied with the ending of a relationship, trying to figure out what went wrong and what he could have done differently, and realizing that all of the analysis is likely to drive him insane. I like that he can write a song about such a thing and not have it be bitter - he's more concerned about his future and how to move forward (there's that theme again) than about criticizing her. Sounds like Matt and I could both use occasional reminders of that passage in the Bible that mentions how many years we can add to our lives by worrying. It's a bummer that this song isn't as exciting musically - it actually seems long at its 4+ minute length in comparison to several of the others, which just fly right by.

I Am Understood?
I want distance from the utmost important thing I know
I see Your love, then turn my back and beg for You to go...
Now this one's a doozy. Starting off as a sprightly acoustic ballad, this song seems to be the successor to the last record's "For the Moments I feel Faint", up until the point where the electric guitars kick in. I really have to respect Matt's songwriting ability here - he manages to take what could have been an easygoing praise song and kicks it up a notch into something that is still very reverent, but also intense at times. Matt spends most of his time here marveling about how amazing it is that God understands him before he even speaks, even though he's embarrassed that he can't hide his selfish and sinful thoughts. It's almost jarring at first when the band switches out of their standard 4/4 time into a swinging 6/8 chorus and then back again - it's not easy to make it work, but kudos to Matt for writing it and Dave Douglas for drumming it out in a way that makes it flow reasonably well. The sing-along factor on the chorus is huge, though I'm guessing this one will never be a radio hit due to how it drops back into quiet ballad status in the middle, and then picks up again, even to the point where the vocals approach screaming, which is appropriate for the final lines - "Your voice has broken my defense, let me embrace salvation!"

Getting Into You
When He looked at me and said, "I kinda view you as a son"
For one second our eyes met, and I met that with the question
"Do You know what You are getting Yourself into?"
The acoustic number that we were teased with before finally comes into being here, and as expected, it's a worthwhile follow up to "For the Moments". It's got a gentle strum pattern, strong vocal melodies, and great wordplay as a child of God wrestles with the notion that he is being loved by a God who is fully aware that this lover is going to hurt Him again and again. The band changes things up a little as the song picks up steam, letting the electric guitar muddy up the background a little bit and borrowing DJ Manuel (the turntable wiz for label mate John Reuben) to provide a programmed rhythm in the place of live drums. The only point at which the song falters is when it uses the trite line "I'm gonna love You with my life" at the end of the chorus - it really sticks out in the midst of a song that was otherwise very well written.

Kids on the Street
Surprisingly, this track is the only interlude on the record, and it really isn't all that amusing. Just Matt having a conversation with some random kids he ran into on the street, who are telling him that he looks different than he does in the picture. The voices cut into the fadeout of "Getting into You", which means it's going to be a pain to edit that song's ending properly if I ever use it on a mix CD.

Gibberish
Arg wu sentafinticate nar dunderford, bida menti kosticated interserd
Thorphilliate stinded yilla billa zay, wentora yate paravillintiniay, paravillintiniay...
Now this is sheer brilliance. If your parents ever told you that they hated rock & roll because they could never understand the lyrics amidst all of the noise, then this is a song you should dedicate to them. The entire thing, save for a few lines during the chorus, is sung in a made-up language that sounds phonetic enough that you could mistake it for English if you weren't paying attention. It's just under two minutes of hilarious nonsense, placed here to remind you that gibberish is not a nice way to talk to all your, uh, mork swax. (Take that, Sigur Rós!)

From End to End
Excuse me, but I've got a request
Could you take the gag off of my mouth?
One thing that I'm definitely happy about on this record is that there aren't any songs that reach the somewhat judgmental and arrogant levels of "My Way or the Highway" from the last disc. This song is the most clearly evangelistic on the record, and while it seems to be directed at a friend or acquaintance who wishes to censor Matt and keep him from talking about his faith, Matt resists the urge to write a bitter anthem about how anti-Christian the media is and how they won't play our songs or whatever. He simply uses this mid-to-fast-tempo song as a vehicle to express concern for an individual who refuses to acknowledge his/her fears of what happens beyond death. All Matt wants is for that person to have ears to hear. Not one of my favorites, but definitely not a skippable track either.

Jefferson Aero Plane
I will save your plunging neckline
Kiss your face, you try to deck mine...
Here's another track that was first featured on a rare EP... I had never heard this one before, but I'm told it's been retooled quite a bit. Hidden tracks notwithstanding, I believe this is the longest song the band has ever recorded, and it seems to serve as their version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" with all of its strange tempo changes and inexplicable lyrics. Honestly, I couldn't even begin to interpret this one, and that's saying a lot for a band who hardly ever veils the meanings of their songs. There are a lot of humorous lines in here, and come to think of it, it's not too far removed from something the Barenaked Ladies might have come up with in their earlier days. Maybe the song would make more sense to me if I actually knew anything about the band this song was named after, but seeing as they're all younger than me, I'm surprised they even know who Jefferson Airplane is! Anyhow, it's a fantastically unorthodox way to close out the CD. Bravo.

Silly Shoes
Honestly, what would a Relient K album be without a goofy hidden track? Forget "Punk Rock Picnic", forget "Skittles and Combos", this is one of the most laugh-out-loud funny things the band has ever put to tape. I don't even want to ruin it for you. Suffice to say that it sounds like a parody of Weird Al Yankovic on a bad day.

It's clear that Relient K put a lot of thought into this album, even going so far as to give us four different covers (I picked the green one but my CD is still pink - what's up with that?) and filming a weekly series entitled "Where the Buffalo and Cell Phones Roam" that you can supposedly access via the web if you put the CD in your computer. You can always expect fun little extras like that from a band who copyrights their songs to "I Went Fishing and All I Got Was This Lousy Publishing" and who has an "Air Conditioner and Fan Club". I'm sure they'll have a blast playing these songs live, and the fans will have every reason to eat it up as they always do. People may write them off as a young and silly band with nothing serious to say, but then, they're probably not paying attention. Two Lefts manages to give the fans all of the elements they've come to love from previous albums while also providing something new, and that's not something I can say for even some of the most established veterans of CCM.

I'd probably give this thing a full 5 stars if not for the few less musically interesting songs, but then, that may just be my bias against punk-influenced rock music talking. As it stands, I'll go with 4 stars and a claim that it just barely edges out The Anatomy as their best album, without replacing the need for new fans who like this album to go back and purchase that one as well.

ALBUM WORTH:
Chapstick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry $1.50
Mood Ring $2
Falling Out $.50
Forward Motion $1.50
In Love with the 80's (Pink Tux to the Prom) $.50
College Kids $1.50
Trademark $2
Hoopes I Did It Again $1
Over Thinking $1.50
I Am Understood? $2
Getting into You $1.50
Kids on the Street $0
Gibberish $2
From End to End $.50
Jefferson Airplane $1
Silly Shoes $1.50
TOTAL: $20.50

Band Members:
Matt Thiessen: Lead vocals, guitar, piano
Matt Hoopes: Guitar, BGV's
Dave Douglas: Drums, BGV's
Brian Pittman: Bass

Website: http://www.relientk.com

Great Music to Play While: Yakking on your cell phone.

Recommended: Yes