So, does anyone remember one of my biggest pet peeves about the Christian music industry? Think for a minute... that's right, now it's coming back to you. I hate it when Christian bands imitate Creed. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the worst offender in this department. (Man, this is going to be a fun review to write!)

Now we'll get one thing straight before I get into slicing and dicing this young band by the name of Kutless who has ripped off Creed so shamelessly... I actually like Creed. They're not a critical favorite, their lyrics can be annoyingly vague at times, and their sound is anything but original... but they write some good songs when you get down to it. The problem a lot of Christians have with Creed is that they don't want to be pigeonholed as a "Christian band". See, Creed has a lot of songs that could be interpreted as coming from a Christian perspective, and this got a lot of us intrigued. But then a lot of Christians got frustrated by Creed's unwillingness to explain the meanings behind their songs, among other things. Christian bookstores didn't see Creed as meeting the satisfactory criteria in order for them to sell the band's albums, and only the most daring Christian radio stations actually played their music (likely to the chagrin of Creed's members). Most of us wanted to like their music, but bought the misconception that listening to it and supporting the band was somehow sinful.

So here's where Kutless comes in. Christians liked Creed's sound. They wanted Creed to make safe, explicitly Christian music so they could get behind it. Well, obviously it was only a matter of time before some band came along with a strikingly similar sound and unquestionably "Christian" lyrics. So a group of earnest young guys forms at a West Coast college with the apparent intent of taking a popular sound and using it to evangelize (something tons of amateur Christian bands do), and BAM! Instant marketing plan for a lucky label. That label would be BEC Recordings - once known for housing the slightly more radio-friendly set of "fringe" bands in the Tooth & Nail fold. Needless to say, Christian radio and retail have greeted these guys with arms wide open. What better way to sell albums than to answer the prayers of all those Christians who wished Creed played Christian music? Stick an appropriately similar song on the radio, and Christian teens and concerned parents alike will come rushing to stores in an attempt to track down "that band that sounds like Creed", because now they have a "wholesome" alternative. It's a brilliant sales maneuver.

But personally, I think it stinks. If the band had accidentally stumbled across their sound, then I suppose I could understand. It's not like Creed is the only mainstream band using that sound. Kutless does cite a few other influences such as Staind and Incubus along with Creed, but the implication seems to be more that "We want to prevent kids from listening to these unhealthy secular bands, so we'll give 'em Christian music that sounds similar" rather than "We like these bands' music and respect them as artists." You know what really irritates me? The band seems to have picked up the overall sound without knowing what to do with it. I don't mind a Christian band having obvious mainstream influences, but I think it's imperative to at least understand why those bands do the things that they do, and to build off of those influences rather than sounding like a good cover band. What we get here is a mishmash of angst-filled vocals about how much God loves us, mid-tempo dirges that take themselves far too seriously, occasional screams for no good reason, the occasional "rap" break, and of course the obligatory wall-to-wall power chords. (I have nothing against power chords when used in moderation, but for crying out loud, you guys have two guitarists - USE THEM.)

So you think that's appealing so far? Well, I haven't even gotten around to discussing the lyrics yet. This can be a touchy issue for Christian bands, because their seems to be this overall perception in the CCM industry that if you don't say it as straightforwardly as you possibly can, you're somehow being less spiritually mature and you're "ashamed" of your faith. Now, I'm not one to expect obtuse abstract poetry that takes months to figure out from every single band I listen to - but I also know cliché when I hear it. I'd like to think I'm pretty tolerant of clichés - sometimes you just have to say something the way you're thinking it even if it's been said a million times before - but what I don't like is the notion that Christian bands have to express everything in "Christianese". And I'm hearing a lot of that on this record - in between the pointless shouts and power chords, of course. I mean, just scan the song titles. They don't exactly scream "original perspective". Some people might argue that Christian shouldn't have to mince words if the Bible doesn't - but I would reply back that my Bible is far more interesting reading, and at times, the Bible can be rather confounding and perplexing. God gave us brains. I like my music to expect me to use my brain at least a little bit.

I suppose I'd better go ahead and discuss the songs at this point (some of which are admittedly rather catchy). I'll finish my idealistic, self-absorbed rant about Christian music later.

Your Touch
For all of my criticism, I do have to mention that the first half of the album's first song shows some promise. It starts with a fairly interesting electric guitar appregio, and Jon Micah Sumrall's verses remind me quite a bit of Incubus's Brandon Boyd. The chorus is a little more of the throaty stuff that Creed's Scott Stapp usually goes for, and lyrically it's as basic as songwriting gets ("And I reach out, and I touch You/And I know that I need You/To reach out, and to touch me/And I know, I know that I need Your touch."), but it's got a decent hook to it, so I can sort of look past that. The song is an earnest prayer set to a modern rock style; I can accept that. Where the whole thing gets hokey is when Jon Micah starts to scream the words "YOOOOOUUUUUURRRR TOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUCH!!!" over and over near the end. It's a prime example of how this band uses angst without understanding its purpose in rock music. To make matters worse, there's a laughable break in the middle where everything speeds up and Jon Micah is spitting out the words, "Once was lost but now I'm found!" over and over. I love how the lyrics page of the band's website feels the need to inform us that this is a "rap".

In Me
Maybe it's just me, but the grumbling guitar patterns and dissonant harmonics that makes up this song's main riff smell a whole lot like Staind. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the band's two guitarists was devoting himself just to those two harmonic notes while the other guy handled the rest - if that's all being handled on one guitar, then I have no clue what the other guy is doing. Anyway, this song attempts to describe the change that occurs after a person becomes a Christian. What should be an interesting attempt at a dialogue within a song just becomes a generic drive-by shooting at things that Christians supposedly shouldn't be doing - "Where were you last night when the party was on? Where were you when we all went down to the bar?" Of course, the answer is a very generic statement that "He lives in me". While of course I agree that Christians should be a good example to the rest of the world, I think there are perfectly acceptable ways to conduct oneself while still being able to have fun at a party, or even (gasp!) have a drink at your local bar. Perhaps that's a more complex issue that the band is oversimplifying due to their largely teenage audience (who shouldn't be hanging out in bars regardless of whether or not they're Christians), but I think the guys are giving Christianity a bad rap here by making the difference between Christians and non-Christians all about what you can't do once you get saved.

Run
I'm glad this song is the current radio single (even though I'm mildly annoyed by the fact that it was so obviously designed to be one), because lyrically and vocally, it's probably the most tolerable thing on the album. A bed of strings and a programmed beat are the underpinning for this mid-tempo number that only hints at Kutless's supposed "hard rock" roots later in the song with a few more aggressive chords. I guess you can't get too angst with a song that's mostly G-C-D... but anyway... The lyrics are written from the point of view of God on this one, looking down at a backslidden believer who is ignoring Him, who perhaps thinks that He's only there to reprimand and punish. Sometimes I am tempted to feel this way, so I can relate - I think a lot of Christians go through that because they aren't brought up with a balanced perspective of who God is. It's unfortunate that the chorus ("Why do you run, why do you hide/Don't you know I just want to be with you") takes a bit of a guilt-inducing turn, because otherwise it's a decent pop song. The band comes dangerously close to giving the listener an equally false view of God... Aw, poor God, He's all alone up there 'cause you don't want to hang out with Him!

Vow
Hope you enjoyed those first three tracks... because it's all downhill from there. This one's a mid-tempo dirge, a little grittier than the last song, but not terribly exciting. It's a song of newfound devotion to God, looking back at the previous year of one's life and realizing it was little more than time wasted on superficial and sinful pursuits. Jon Micah sounds passionate enough here, but I can't help but wince at the naivete of his vow to God - "You'll be all of my life and I'll never think twice to do all that You have for me". It's a promise that neither he, nor I, nor anyone else could realistically live up to. I realize that's not the point, and his willingness to seek God more earnestly in the new year is the point he's trying to get across, but the over-generalization really damages the song. (Edit: can't believe I forgot to mention that the opening riff is almost exactly same as the one used in "Your Touch".)

Pride Away
Bass player Stu (he's the guy with the weird hair - every rock band needs one!) starts this one off with a dark, rumbling foundation on which the rest of the band builds one of their darker songs. It's a welcome trip out of Creed-land, though the verses are still rather pedestrian and the chorus is an unimaginative repetition of "Take my pride away". Kutless manages to show us a little bit of musical intensity and a variation in their sound here - nothing particularly blistering on the guitar, but the bass and drums are nice, and there's a guest rapper (who sounds like KJ-52 but I don't think it is) who spruces things up in a rather unexpected way, much like when Toby Mac busts out with a quick rap verse in dc Talk's "Like It, Love It, Need it" (except that was seven or so years ago when we hadn't heard it done to death). I've actually heard that they try to make it look like Jon Micah's doing the rap when they play this in concert - that's pretty lame. Also lame is the pointless screaming of the song's title near the end. I don't mind screaming in harder rock songs when there's something in the lyrics that warrants being screamed. Here it just sounds like the band is desperate to keep your attention.

Down
It was strange to me at first that "Down" was the title of a song about a girl who "wants to fly away from this", but hey, give the guys credit for not having a song whose chorus is just the title phrase being repeated ad nauseum. The guys actually didn't do a bad job with this one - it's a bit of a quicker-paced rock song, definitely radio friendly but still somewhat edgy - and it seems to be about a girl who struggles with anorexia or bulimia. The lyrics are still somewhat sophomoric, but at least they've managed to write a decent "story" song. Of course, they have to wrap it up within three minutes and assert that "Only God knows how to fly away from this", which really goes without saying in this sad story, but that's standard CCM for ya. It can't hold a candle to Caedmon's Call's "Piece of Glass" in terms of songs on this subject, but it's still a reasonable attempt.

Again
This song was my first exposure to Kutless, and I thought it was a rather odd pick for a song to feature on a sampler, because it's far from being one of the album's strongest. The lagging tempo seems at odds with the darker mood it tries to portray, and the lyrics - while actually somewhat poetic - are also at odds with the overall sound. More experienced bands will sometimes do this for ironic effect, but I'm assuming that Kutless probably just doesn't know any different. The whole song can be summed up by its utterly banal chorus: "Love again/Again, again/I don't deserve this love You gave to me." They even try to add depth by opening the song with a reading of part of I Corinthians 13, which has a whole lot more to say about the nature of God's love than these guys seem to have grasped with such a simplistic song.

Dry
Now that's an apt title if I ever saw one, because at this point we've had enough mid-tempo post-grunge numbers that I'm thirsting for something completely different. This is one of those songs that doesn't really stand out to me no matter how many times I listen to the CD - just more power chordage and slow, brooding verses covering up an average lyric that actually could've had potential, since it's about the times every Christian goes through when they feel like they're taking God for granted and wondering why they're not excited about their salvation. "The feeling's gone, but I know You're still there." (Actually on their website, it says "your". Always a sign of an intelligent band.) I can relate to the sentiment but I've heard far more powerful songs on the topic.

Tonight
So, did you ever wonder what Creed would sound like singing a cheesy worship anthem? Your wish is about to come true... or your worst nightmare. All I have to say about this song is, "What If". Because it sounds almost exactly like it - from the dark solo guitar that opens the song to the aggressive, punchy chorus that effectively plagiarizes the chorus of "What If", except with encouraging words to unify the body of Christ in prayer and praise. See, I could understand if the band stumbled across a similar song accidentally, but they've even said in an interview that while they didn't realize it was so similar to Creed's song, they noticed that it sounded a lot like a Stone Temple Pilots song (which the Creed song is probably ripping off, but I haven't heard the STP song so I can't say for sure). Apparently they didn't do anything about it, and either way, you'd think someone in the production lineup would've encouraged them to change the song a little bit. This is just plagiarism, and in all seriousness, I hope Creed sues them for it - not because I think Creed needs any more money, but because Kutless needs a strong reminder that just because you have good intentions, it doesn't give you the right to hijack someone else's creation for your own purposes. Never in my life have I heard a more blatant ripoff of another artist than this song.

This Time
This song is another one of those supposedly "encouraging" numbers that comes across as more guilt-inducing than anything else. Basically Jon Micah is calling out an old friend - someone who may have even led him to Christ - and accusing him of being backslidden. I know it's meant to have a caring tone to it, but this is where a little more songwriting skill would really help the band, because a line like "You turned your back on God" is nothing less than harsh and certainly not helpful when trying to help a believer who is going through a "Dry" spell. Speaking of "Dry", this song suffers from the same musical drought as that one and a few others tracks like "Vow", and it's got a wonderfully poignant chorus of "No walking away, yeah, this time."

Saved
Some brighter guitar tones open this one, but as you could probably guess, it's more of the same at this point. Here the band is attempting to do the impossible - to put the message that Jesus is the only way to salvation into a trendy four-minute modern rock song. The result is a mishmash of Christianese clichés and bland lines like "I know it'll be alright, okay." I have no problem with blatant Jesus songs, but if the band expects that anyone who's not a Christian is going to hear it and go "Gee, they're right! I should become a Christian!" solely on the basis of the song, they're probably mistaken. If you want to speak to people outside of the church, I think you've gotta make a better effort to speak their language than this.

Grace and Love
For the last track, the band goes totally adult contemporary on us and offers up a gentle, piano-driven altar call song. (Every Christian band's gotta have one.) The language is pretty much more of the same from the last song, and honestly, the complete genre shift only lends credence to my theory that the band has adopted their trendy rock sound to attract kids' attention, not because it's a sound they're really fascinated by. I'm all for rock bands experimenting with quiet ballads, but there's no musical continuity here - no reason for this track to even be on the record other than for the band to have a mellow tear-jerking song to emotionally manipulate more people into coming forward during an altar call. (You can bet they'll be playing it at the Harvest Crusade tonight.) Sorry if that sounds harsh, but at this point the entire album is starting to feel like it's the product of a TBN pledge drive.

I hate to be so hard on these guys because I really wanted to like them. That's the honest truth. I listened to this CD again and again trying to find some artistically redeeming qualities, and while I can't fault them for their obvious hearts for ministry, I think it's somewhat dangerous to sell this stuff to a mass audience, because it communicates that it's OK to steal someone else's creative work for the purpose of spreading the Gospel. Maybe this shouldn't be a surprise in an era where it's easier for us to appropriate popular advertising slogans and stick them on our cars and T-shirts, hoping that will substitute for truly loving and caring for the people that we hope will become Christians and sharing our personal testimonies, warts and all. But it's certainly a disappointment, especially when bands like Kutless can become the fastest-selling new artist of the year (can we really call them a new artist to begin with?) and become an A-list band on the CCM touring circuit as a result, while bands who are working hard to do something Christians haven't heard a billion times before are mostly laboring in obscurity. I don't mean to be an art-rock snob. Sometimes evangelism needs to just be straightforward and speak from the heart. But if that's the case, you shouldn't be trying to sound like another band that everyone likes. It's just plain dishonest, and as Christians, I really think we should strive to be above that. We should be the ones making the music that the world thinks is so interesting, they're tempted to imitate it. And labels certainly shouldn't be signing young bands like this without encouraging a little further toward finding their own sound. That could be said for the mainstream, too, but it has been especially problematic in CCM.

Okay, off my soapbox now. You may commence writing hate mail.

ALBUM WORTH:
Your Touch $1
In Me $.50
Run $1
Vow -$.50
Pride Away $.50
Down $0
Again -$.50
Dry $0
Tonight -$1
This Time -$.50
Saved -$.50
Grace and Love -$.50
TOTAL: -$.50

Band Members:
Jon Micah Sumrall: Lead vocals
James Mead: Guitar
Ryan Shrout: Guitar
Stu: Bass
Kyle Mitchell: Drums

Website: http://www.kutless.com

Recommended: No