Christian rock has been much maligned in the mainstream press. While the faithful like to think this is due to some conspiracy to repress the religious, the plain and simple fact is that the visible Christian rock out there has — up until recently — been pretty mediocre. If a quality product is produced, it wouldn’t matter if the creator was a Christian. Just ask Sufjan Stevens or The Danielson Famile. Heck, ask U2.
In the 90s however, the story was a bit different. By that time, evangelical Christian leaders had completely brainwashed the Christian community into thinking that there needed to be a separate industry for Christian music — one based on beliefs and lyrical content, rather than musical style.
The niche market meant that you didn’t really have to be good to become popular, as long as your lyrics and heart were in the right place. It also meant that if you weren’t deemed as marketable by the bigwigs, you were doomed to obscurity. The mainstream wasn’t an option because the youth pastors said it wasn’t. But the Christian market simply wasn’t interested in anything musically challenging or unproven.
The mainstream kept on hearing what the Christian market saw as good: Michael W. Smith, the Newsboys, dc Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman, and so on and so forth. It is understandable that they not only threw out the baby with the bathwater, but the whole tub as well. Yet there was a whole underground movement of Christian music that went unnoticed by both fans of pop Christian music, and the mainstream.
Tooth and Nail Records, despite their poor reputation and many questionable releases, did the most for quality underground Christian music. They signed and released The Danielson Famile’s first four albums — as well as other notables like Royal; Roadside Monument; Pep Squad; Pedro The Lion; and Stavesacre. They also continue to release all of Starflyer 59’s albums.
And now we have Neon Horse. They’re a so-called mystery super group. We’re not supposed to know who the members are. As gimmicky as it sounds, Neon Horse actually released an album worthy of being listened to.
There is something about the album that feels quite off-kilter that I can’t quite place my finger on. However, the objective critic in me has to say that it is fairly straight forward rock. It throws back, to a certain extent, to a different era. At the same time it sounds very modern and a product of today. When I say “throw back,” comparisons immediately leap to mind of the so-called garage rock revival started by The Strokes, The Vines, etc. Neon Horse doesn’t sound like any of them. This is probably because they also mix in some great Queens of the Stone Age style stoner rock.
While the official standpoint of the band and Tooth and Nail Records is that we don’t know who the band members are, it didn’t take too long for things to come out. “Cuckoo!” was the first song they put on their MySpace page. Any Stavesacre fan would recognize Mark Salomon doing half of the vocal duties. His voice is just too distinctive to keep hidden from anyone who has heard it before. In this context, however, Salomon sounds theatrical and freer than he ever sounded with Stavesacre.
Also likely, although not as easy to confirm, is Jason Martin from Starflyer 59 on guitars. His style of playing is pretty distinctive and people often refer to his stoner rock influences. But beyond that, I have yet to hear any compelling evidence of the identities of any other members. No one even knows for sure how many people make up Neon Horse. My pseudo-professional opinion is three to five core members with other people contributing as wanted or needed.
This album is a must-have for Starflyer 59 or Stavesacre fans, even though the net effect of hearing Neon Horse comes across as quite different from either band. However, even those without prior knowledge of Starflyer or Stavesacre can enjoy the album simply on the strength of the songs presented.
But the question remains: Just who are these guys?
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