American Band Rock: The Smalltown Poets Vortex

There’s no such genre as Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). That name does not describe the style of music. If you grab a CD from the CCM bin at the record store, or God forbid, Walmart, you could get rap, country, hard rock, or saccharine pop. Obviously, then, the title of that section of the music stores isn’t helping you find the kind of music you enjoy. As Peter Furler of the Newsboys said, “You can't say Christian music—there is no real such thing. It's the only form of music defined by lyrics.”

I can look at any point of the Spectrum of my CD collection and find artists that could be labeled as CCM or are on Christian labels. I try very hard to place Christian artists in the Spectrum according to their styles, similarities, and influences—as advertised in the title banner for this site. I try not to let all of the Christian artists get bunched up together. I want to listen beyond the lyrics, to hear the music, and see how that music falls into the range of sound. That’s due in part to my firm belief that Christian artists should have secular artists as musical influences; they should have a sense of the grand history of rock ‘n’ roll and not just the last 20 years of Christian radio.

That said, despite my best efforts, there tends to be groupings of Christian artists in the Spectrum. This is especially apparent in the American Band Rock section. Although I intend here to name what keeps each band unique, there’s a number of bands that have a straight-forward rock sound, eighth-note high hat/snare on two and four.


Call this the Smalltown Poets Vortex. While the Smalltown Poets are definitely not the pioneers, they seem to typify the standard Christian rock band sound. The Poets acts like a vortex, sucking in other Christian artists to that same subset of the American Band Rock section.

I believe that much of this problem comes from production. Thankfully many artists are tapping producers from outside the CCM circle, because there’s been an ingrown sameness to the sound. Because CCM is defined by lyrics, the production must keep the vocals on top of the mix, unnaturally so, seeming almost separate from the instrumental portion of the music. Could it be that these are the demands placed upon producers and artists by the Christian labels and imprints?

I think this problem is only exasperated when there are separate Christian labels. It’s a club, a clique practicing separatism. Of course, as Christian artists migrate to secular labels, they’re accused of going mainstream or selling out—regardless of whether their personal faith or lyrics change. (But I thought lyrics defined this category. . .not the record label?). There’s a sense of shock that a band would enlist producers who aren’t from the Christian fraternity.

OK, diatribe over. Let’s jump into the Smalltown Poets Vortex (SPV) and see if we can identify what makes each artist unique among the sameness (some of these might be a stretch).

Finding Uniqueness Among the Sameness

MercyMe
MercyMe stand out from this crowd due to Bart Miller’s lead vocals. His voice has a certain tone that tiptoes right around the “praise band singer syndrome” (see comments about Spirit Creek). Miller has an earnest delivery without losing the ability to connect with the hearers.


The Waiting
The Waiting add a jazzy beat, ska-like almost to the standard Christian rock. A little backbeat and rap-sing on “Diamonds to Dust” from Wonderfully Made. Adding this beat layer keeps the Waiting’s sound fresh while in the Vortex. By the way, the title track from their 1998 album Unfazed opens up sounding like Semisonic’s “Closing Time.”


Form
Form, a New Zealand church worship band, has really nice bass lines, accenting a groove that might get lost in the straight-forward rock. On their 1998 offering, Journey Closer, “Broken” and “Ha Hei Beach” emerge from the sameness due to the bass/keyboard walking through the chords with more pluck than the standard beat.

Can the Smalltown Poets Escape Their Own Vortex?
The Smalltown Poets keep themselves from falling prey to their own vortex of sameness through their lyrics. The Smalltown Poets take standard rock and standard rock lyrics, just twisting them with a little fresh imagery in order to avoid the sucking whirlpool. On “Waterfall” from the 2000 release, Third Verse, we learn about what it means to speak God’s Word: “If I were a tape recorder/Would You take me in Your pack?/You could say anything/And I would play it back.” Enough of those small nuggets of slightly original comparisons keep the Poets from languishing in the vortex named for them.


The Pale
Working outside the CCM fraternity, The Pale differentiate themselves through the keyboard vamps present in many songs. That keyboard/piano sound adds a certain bounce to the straight-forward rock. Even when the keyboard isn’t present or prevalent, the bounce infuses how the Pale craft their rock sound. On the 2004 Sidecho release, Gravity Gets Things Done, the bounce gives a lighter air to ballads, as on “The Crash,” and produces some hip-shaking on upbeat tracks like “Reasons to Try.” In the liner notes, the Pale thank Poor Old Lu’s Aaron Sprinkle, who has created non-standard Christian rock, blending atmospherics with pop sensibilities. The Pale keep the pop flames burning, but their sound could even further grow outside the Smalltown Poets Vortex with more atmospherics.


Averi
The Boston band Averi has that standard rock sound, the harmonizing of the Smalltown Poets, and the vocals on top of the mix. While apparently not a Christian band per se, they are however caught up in this vortex. Yet, they distinguish themselves from the fold with Michael Currier’s saxophones/flute. They’re borrowing from 80’s rock (Hall & Oates’ use of saxophones comes to mind) but add it to their more current rock sound. These horns give them a bit of the jazzy beat that keeps the Waiting unique. Direction of Motion creates a fine rock band album, worth checking out if you’re tired of hearing from the same bands over and over again. Here’s an independent band creating ear-friendly songs.

There’s a Vortex in American Dance Rock Too?
There seems to be a similar thing happening in the American Dance Rock category. Delirious?, the worship band out of England, has really made waves on both sides of the pond. Their blend of praise songs with dance beats, drum loops, and keyboards is now being repeated by many others. The David Crowder Band mimics still style. I enjoy what Delirious? and the David Crowder Band are doing, but there could be a danger of a vortex growing, swallowing other similar bands.

While you can find a uniqueness in each of these bands amongst the sameness of the Smalltown Poets Vortex, we can only hope that CCM, or whatever you want to call Christians in bands making rock music, will find ways of letting bands etch out their own place in the music world, reference many different bands/genre/secular & sacred in their style, and remain individuals rather than trying to repeat what someone else made successful.

Thanks to Averi, The Pale, Sidecho Records and MercyMe for the review copies.