Rock In a Hard Place: Top Ten Underrated Christian Rockers of the Past
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6. Chasing Furies
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Sparrow Records signing Chasing Furies for its sole CD With Abandon. These dreamy alternative darlings truly pushed the envelope of melody and dissonance, stirring the waters within the critics’ pool, but finding a tougher time connecting with the masses. These days, frontwoman Sarah MacIntosh is on her own and recently dropped the slightly more accessible The Waiters, The Watchers, The Listeners, The Keepers and Me.
6. Chasing Furies
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Sparrow Records signing Chasing Furies for its sole CD With Abandon. These dreamy alternative darlings truly pushed the envelope of melody and dissonance, stirring the waters within the critics’ pool, but finding a tougher time connecting with the masses. These days, frontwoman Sarah MacIntosh is on her own and recently dropped the slightly more accessible The Waiters, The Watchers, The Listeners, The Keepers and Me.
7. Luna Halo
Long before signing with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings on the mainstream side of the fence, Luna Halo was also inked to Sparrow, dropping the one and only faith-based full-length, Shimmer. The hypnotic disc was instantly heralded as a triumph, though members soon sought to spread their wings beyond the Christian world, since their ambitious musical ideas tended to break the mold. After much delay, 2007 spawned a self-titled mainstream debut, but many early fans felt alienated by the switch from ethereal alternative to garage rock.
8. Bleach
Bleach is perhaps the best example of a modern rock band that consistently improved with each album released, starting off as a somewhat sloppy pop/rock outfit in 1995 that became immensely respected by its 2004 farewell. Radio dwellers will probably best recall the youth group-friendly 1998 single “Super Good Feeling,” but latter projects found the focus leaning towards Weezer-esque power pop with a Jimmy Eat World undercurrent.
9. Stavesacre
This group’s three Tooth & Nail recordings throughout the second half of the 1990s are often regarded as its best, with less ability to reclaim its brooding brand of hard rock when switching to secular labels like Nitro and Abacus. To this day, 1999’s cover of The Cure’s “Fascination Street” remains a concert staple that seamlessly bridges the gap between believers and the group’s unchurched audience.
10. The W’s
Remember when Brian Setzer Orchestra was bringing back swing just before the new millennium? Around the same time, Christian music had its own rhythm kings in the form of The W’s, a flagship act on the now-stagnant Five Minute Walk Records. The smashing single “The Devil Is Bad” doesn’t get much airplay these days, but it’s a quintessential snapshot of the era and points to the players’ underappreciated instrumental abilities.
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About the Writer
Andy Argyrakis is a Chicago-based entertainment writer/photographer who appears in the Chicago Tribune, Illinois Entertainer, Daily Journal, Concert Livewire, Hear/Say Magazine and Image Chicago (to name few). His record label writing credits include Warner Brothers, Atlantic, Curb, EMI and Universal, with additional photo credits for Fuse TV, Live Nation, Nikon, Pollstar, Celebrity Access, Paste Magazine, MTV.com and Vibe.com. He’s also the author/narrator of “Access Matthews” (an audio CD tracing the career of Dave Matthews Band) and spends considerable time on tour, including outings with Arlo Guthrie, The Guess Who, Madina Lake (on Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution) and Gospel Music Channel’s very own “Gospel Dream” (where he served as season one judge).
Your Comments
Sometimes critical praise doesn’t add up to commercial success. Here are 10 blasts from the past worth rediscovering or checking out for the very first time. Burlap to Cashmere and Over the Rhine made our list. Which Christian rockers (past or present) would make your ‘most underrated’ list?
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