Allow me to introduce the best new rock band of the year 2002: Daily Planet. Perhaps I'm a little biased, since the young quartet was formed while attending Azusa Pacific University here in my native Los Angeles County, but regardless of that and the kabillion comparisons critics have thrown at these guys, something about this new band makes me smile from ear to ear. It's not rocket science - just a six-string rocketeer and a few clever pens uniting to create one of the most fun, feel-good summer albums since Third Day's debut six years ago (for the same record label, I might add). Too bad I didn't stumble across this one until autumn rolled around...

Let's get the comparisons out of the way, since these guys have been dealing with them pretty much since they started out. The aforementioned Third Day is the most obvious analogy, considering that lead singer Jesse Butterworth has a bit of a Georgia drawl that rivals Mac Powell's (for those of you not into Christian music, imagine a cross between Pearl Jam and Hootie and you'll get the idea). At one of the band's very first gigs, they were criticized for sounding too much like Third Day, and the similarly Southern-inflected Big Tent Revival. I guess I'm glad they retooled their sound if the second was ever true, because their lyrics and musical style never approach the bland banality that plagued most of BTR's output. Another name I see thrown around a lot is the Dave Matthews Band - which I think is over-exaggerated a bit, since there are no fiddle solos, horns, or seven-minute jam sessions to be found on this record. Perhaps the spirit of the DMB is there in some of the more playful songs, but that's about it. Then there's Jars of Clay, which doesn't fit at all, unless you think of Jars whenever you hear a song with an acoustic guitar and moderately inventive lyrics.

With the false comparisons debunked, I'd like to go with my own analysis - a more lyrically diverse Third Day combined with the less polished side of Audio Adrenaline's persona (circa bloOm), and some of the lyrical wit of Caedmon's Call. It's not a perfect blend, since the band appears to be still finding their footing, deciding whether they want to go the "safe" route and write easily digestable folk/pop/rock songs for Christian radio, or go the more "seeker-friendly" route and just write about life in general as filtered through their Christian worldview. But for a freshman album that vacillates between the two, it's consistently cohesive and enjoyable, with a few moments that really show me that this band has a lot of promise if their talent is cultivated correctly.

Flying Blind
I'm a man who could stand to lose command
So You can clearly give me direction...
It's usually a bad sign when a band's first single is also the first track on their record, but in this case, it works really well. Jesse's quirky voice starts the record off with a sense of urgency as the jumpy rhythm meets up with his words: "I'm just fine, but in time, this sunshine will surely fade into the moonlight." As the song unfolds, it becomes a fun anthem about trusting God to navigate our lives for us, even if we can't understand where we're being led. Bobby Reinsch's led guitar lines really evoke memories of Audio A's "Never Gonna Be as Big as Jesus" on this song, and judging from the song's popularity, it might be on its way to becoming just as much of a classic.

More to Life
Intelligence says consequence is not the beast to wake...
The second track isn't as strong, starting off awkwardly with a little bit of studio chatter, but it does a good job of blending a catch acoustic guitar strum into Daily Planet's more unplugged-but-electric style (if that makes any sense at all). I don't think the lyrics are as interesting on this one, just because the whole commentary on how "There must be more to life than this/Surviving weekend to the next" has been done before. That's pretty much the intent of the song. Though there is an odd lyric in the first verse about trying to get a chimpanzee of your back. Even on the less interesting songs, the band always manages to stick something in there to make you curious, which is definitely a good sign.

Lost and Found
I see a bird in flight, a baby and its mother
I see a homeless man, a baby born to suffer
And it renews my mind...
The first ballad on the project still has a fair amount of "rock" in its recipe, so we haven't devolved into AC territory just yet. This is one of those songs that hints that Jesse and co. want to write about something deep, but they haven't quite figured out how to leave us enough clues to follow their logic. The verses find Jesse observing the seeming randomness of life, in nature and the hardships that plague humanity, etc., and trying to reconcile these events with what he knows of God. I don't quite follow how all of these events renew his mind, as he keeps telling us, though it does culminate in a nice final verse about Jesus hanging on the cross. Don't worry; the band has better ballads in store.

Tangled Web
They're talking 'bout revolution
Suggesting I'm the solution...
This is where things really start to get good. Sporting a meaner musical mix, complete with some electronics worked into Daily Planet's usually rootsy sound, this song reminds me a lot of Third Day's "Alien". Building off of the classic Shakespeare quote, the band takes on their own role as supposed saviors to their audience, dealing with the realization that it would be sin to put across a false image of themselves from stage and pretend that they could solve their fans' problems and make their lives all happy and basically play God. The "superhero" theme that inspired the album title comes into play here, both in the lyrics, which make a clever nod to The Beatles' "Revolution", and also at the end of the song, where a sudden guitar riff brings the song into a halt, much like the dramatic instrumental flourish during one of those old TV shows like "Batman", when someone would be in distress and then they'd cut away to another scene and say something like, "Meanwhile, back at the Bat Cave..." Clever.

Everything Revolves
You're getting bigger in my view
Until all I see is You...
This one is probably the weakest of the record's up tempo songs - it's more of a straight-ahead rock tune that uses the tired analogy of God being a star or celestial body that we orbit around. Not that it's a bad analogy (it's certainly fitting for the band's name, even though that was more inspired by the fictional newspaper Clark Kent worked for), but I've heard recent songs by Shaun Groves, By the Tree, the Paul Colman Trio, and P.O.D. that have all used the same "satellite" idea to convey their message of taking the focus off of man and putting it back on God. The use of the line "Everything will be alright" in the chorus doesn't help, either. Kind of obvious why this one was chosen as the follow-up single on Christian radio.

Questioning the Notion
And I too have found it hard to sleep
When three corners of the square will weep
And one will laugh and buy and eat and drink...
A little guitar feedback from "Everything Revolves" carries over into this mid-tempo number, which seems to take the vague ideas that were used in "Lost and Found" and expound on them a bit more. Anyone who thinks that Christians shouldn't question God probably won't like this song, since it's an admission of exactly that. But when you get real about your faith, you can't avoid having such queries keep you awake at night, and this song comes as a comfort to those who feel like they must be immature Christians for having such feelings. The song doesn't pretend to answer such heavy questions as why there are starving children in the world, etc., but it does assert that the "bad things happening to good people" quandary is not an ezcuse for abandoning faith, because part of the mystery of God is that we are "only seeing half the picture/For the other half I'll trust." One line that really hits home in this song is "I can't explain why helpless children pay/For all the careless sin their parents made", which is actually a smart foreshadowing of the next song on the disc.

Six String Rocketeer
There were no bad guys, just a couple of consenting adults...
If everyone were like me, this would be "the song everyone's talking about". Of course, not everyone comes from divorced or otherwise seriously dysfunctional family backgrounds, or is as much of a music junkie as me, which is pretty much the two audiences for which this song will hit close to home. Starting off with a rich acoustic strum that reminds me of "Two Sets of Jones'" (the only Big Tent Revival song I ever liked), this is an epic ballad about a kid who found his escape from the harsh realities of his parents' unraveling marriage through whatever old tapes and records he had on hand. The music takes on an almost cinematic tone as he fondly recalls that "My getaway car was this beat-up guitar". Instead of delving into the details of the divorce, he instead focuses on the blessing that the music of Sting, Billy Joel, etc. was to him during that time, as described in a very playful and clever series of name-drops during the bridge (I especially love the snippet of "Piano Man" that creeps in before the final chorus). Again, this will bug some Christians who think that all "secular" music is bad, but let's be honest, most Christian bands these days use the sound of hot mainstream bands as a springboard to create their own "safe" alternatives, so obviously 90% of the bands you think it's okay for your kids to listen to are in tune with the music of bands that you wouldn't consider safe. I like that this song affirms that music can be a gift and a source of healing, even if it's not explicitly "Christian" or even "spiritual".

Hero
I read the bio to see what you're all about
Let's put it this way, folks, this guy is no boy scout
I'm missing the point...
It was brilliant to follow up "Six String Rocketeer" with this timely warning about putting our musical idols on a pedestal. Starting off with purposefully melancholy strings a la All Star United, the guys then shout "ROCK!" and start jamming away to the very same tune. Jesse has a decidedly sarcastic sneer to his voice as he takes on the persona of a devoted music fan: "I bought the CD, downloaded the mp3/I even bought the import from the Japanese". As the song unravels, he slowly realizes that this character whose music he admires is morally corrupt, and from that loss of innocence comes a key realization - that celebrity comes with responsibility. Consider it my answer to the ever-popular essay topic, "Do Artists Have a Social Responsibility to Uphold?", which was of course inspired by characters such as Eminem and Marilyn Manson (and perhaps even Amy Grant or P.O.D., to bring things closer to home for us Christians). Yes, they do. Because like it or not, kids will look up to them and mimic their actions.

3000 Miles Away
Denver did not seem more than three feet high
The Empire did not scrape the sky
And the White House seemed gray...
Shifting gears, an acoustic guitar takes over again for a mushy but clever ode to a long-distance lover. While the music here is nothing spectacular, the lyrics steal the show, describing popular American cities one by one and explaining how all of the tourist traps in the world seem dull when separated from someone you love. It's not clear whether Jesse's writing from the perspective of California, missing someone back in Georgia, or what, and that only gets more muddy when you realizes that not all of the cities named are 3,000 miles from either location, but never mind that. This is one of those songs that nearly brings tears to my eyes for very personal reasons that I won't bore you by rehashing right now. The best part is the bridge, which seems to indicate college as being the reason for the distance: "Distance is my tutor/So well he's teaching me/In the education of appreciation/And I got my PH.D."

Five
I jumped off the couch today, I swear I was not afraid
'Cause I had on my red cape just like Superman...
Woohoo! I haven't heard such a fun song about being a kid in a while. Bass player Seth Davis penned this catchy, frolicking number about how carefree life was at age five. I can't think of a better voice to be barking out the silly lyrics than Jesse, especially when he shows us his age by name-dropping Superman and Luke Skywalker. There's just a certain zeal to how he describes his misadventures that really makes you think he's a little kid in a grown man's body, getting more excited than any responsible adult ever would about playing in the mud, trying to catch pigs, etc. There's a weird tempo change in the bridge, but it doesn't bug me too much. What clinches the song is the gang shouts of "When I get to Heaven!" near the end of the song - I once had a thought that we'd all be children again in Heaven, and I kind of like having a song to give me a visual of Heaven as a fun, playful place - something more akin to Dennis the Menace than Precious Moments.

I Live
Mysteries remain unknown
Until I stand before Your throne...
Alas, the record closes with a more AC-friendly slow song. It's still got an acoustic, rootsy feel to it, but the lyrics (written by producer Reggie Hamm, who is an inexplicable choice for this record since he normally works with more "light pop" acts) are disappointingly cliché Christian radio fare. "I live to sing Your praise, like a lullaby, like amazing grace." Yawn. I can't really blame the band for this one - they've already been given a longer leash than most new bands in CCM, and what they've done with that freedom on other songs is amazing, so I guess this one was a concession to a record label that's also used to dealing with older acts. (Give 'em a few years, Reunion will lose interest and they'll end up on Essential like Third Day and All Star United before them.) One thing that is kind of cool (and unexpected) is when teen-friendly pop singer Joy Williams shows up for some pretty duet vocals near the end. It actually works, despite the disparity of the two voices (think Mandy Moore duetting with Switchfoot's lead singer on the soundtrack for A Walk to Remember and you'll have a close comparison). Jesse's written some lyrics for Joy's latest record, which is a step in the right direction for her - I can't help but wonder if there's any relationship between these two beyond just being label mates. Anyway, disregarding that, I guess this is a decent closing, but I think the guys could do a better job at writing inspirational ballads than their producer could, even if "Lost and Found" and "Questioning the Notion" only hinted at their full potential.

Even if I wasn't as consistently blown away by the entire record as I was by some of the more rocking songs and the ballads with more specificity in the lyrical department, I still enjoy this record pretty much from cover to cover. Daily Planet is at their best when they're having fun, because there's still a purpose to it all and it's not just silliness. If they play their cards right, they should amass a following that includes everyone from five-year-olds to the band's own musical superheroes. The big Hero that the band wants to point us to is already listening, and I'd like to think the smile on His face is even bigger than mine.

ALBUM WORTH:
Flying Blind $1
More to Life $.50
Lost and Found $.50
Tangled Web $1.50
Everything Resolves Around You $.50
Questioning the Notion $1
Six String Rocketeer $2
Hero $2
3000 Miles Away $1.50
Five $2
I Live $0
TOTAL: $12.50

Band Members:
Jesse Butterworth: Lead vocals, guitars
Bobby Reinsch: Guitars
Seth Davis: Bass
Danny Lund: Drums

Website: http://www.dailyplanetmusic.com
(I love how this site poses itself as a newspaper! Downloads quick, too.)

Great Music to Play While: On a summer road-trip to somewhere 3000 miles away.

Recommended: Yes