Zoomtard

Christian music is largely deserving of its reputation.

I am sorry for tempting you to play that video.

So it is with understandable excitement that Christians greet the emergence of Derek Webb over the last five years. Here is a songwriter with real credibility and a Christian who understands his faith. He caused quite a controversy when he wrote a song depicting the church as a whore who ran around in a wedding dress, which is a wonderful illustration of a) how Webb is immersed in the imagination of the Bible and b) why Christian music sucks so bad. It must be derivative to meet the market demands. Webb’s songs go a touch to deep.

Webb, by the way, is an advocate for a new model of music distribution that has basically under-cut online piracy. He gives his albums away for whatever you think they are worth. If you encourage five friends to give him a listen, he’ll send you a copy for free. He won’t ever get filthy rich. But he makes great albums and tours for his hardcore fans and you have to accept, that’s kind of living the dream.

So on to Stockholm Syndrome. The most interesting “Christian musician” who isn’t named Sufjan has released a typically wordy album. Wife-unit tells me I have a fatal weakness for wordy music, from the shouting of the Hold Steady through to the poetry of Paul Simon at his best. So this is not going to be a dancefloor filler. It is obviously heavily inspired by Radiohead’s last album. The ambience is out in that drum loop territory that in and of itself renders this an interesting proposition in its genre.

Yet the album as a whole simply does not ignite. The lyrics, as ever, as astonishingly good. Webb is occupying the fully-fledged role of prophet here in his deconstruction of contemporary western culture. He sings in the voice of Jesus pleading with Fred Phelps:

Freddie, please
The stone’s been rolled away
But your picketing my grave
For lovin’ the things you hate

In Black Eye he reminds us that “Time looks the same at the ones who hate / And the ones that do nothing”. In the best song on the album, What You Give Up To Get It, he sings “Like style made by slaves / Like bribes to throw a race / Like women who know their place / Like an Indian casino or a tank of unleaded / It was never quite worth what you had to give up to get it”.

Yet one wonders if Webb would not make a better poet or novelist than songwriter because the overall impression of the album musically seems to be heavy, dark and unrelenting. It is a stylish, excellently produced album but dare I say it, as a fan of the Hold Steady, melody is hard to find!

You can hear more of the album here.

Your Correspondent, Married his conscience to MTV’s The State