Tag: California

LikeDavid released 2 full lengths & a few indie singles. I sill speak with vocalist Marc Haley a few times a year. The band helped me through some difficult times in the past. Also check out Suffer To Reach. … Continued →

Freeto Boat was an awesome punk rock band mixed with ska. Like my previous SOTD for Sick of Change, this one is also a love song. Today I’ll let the sun set, There’s no anger in my heart. Tonight just let the moon rise, Our time won’t be spent apart. Starlight and confessions Of what you mean to me, These twilight conversations they’re helping me to see… What you are in God’s eyes, what you are in mine not a hair too shy of perfect and always just in time.… Continued →

3rd Root is a band that reminds me of a cross between the Deftones, Helmet & old school P.O.D. They were short lived, but their full length A Sign of Things To Come is a mainstay in my metal collection.     … Continued →

San Francisco-based goth band BATZZ in the Belfry are relatively unknown in the mainstream, but that is a real shame. They combine “unashamed traditional old school goth” with ethereal dream pop, and even hints at shoegaze at times. I suppose this puts them in the realm of darkwave. Take “Touch the Stars” for instance.… Continued →

MxPx just announced two shows in April 2022, one at House of Blues in Anaheim, CA. on April 1st and the other in Tempe, Arizona at Marquee Theater. Joining them will be Zebrahead, Bad Cop, Bad Cop, and Mercy Music. Tickets and further info can be found right here. Also, the band just dropped a new LIVE album titled “Southbound to San Antonio” that sounds absolutely fantastic, even better than their last big one.… Continued →

Fono was an awesome band that had a really outstanding debut, but seemed to fail into obscurity shortly thereafter a follow-up. They originally came from the United Kingdom under the name Seven, but moved to California for their American tenure. Their vocalist actually played in other bands I have releases from called Split Level & Tribe of Dan.… Continued →

Dead Awake Dreaming was a metalcore band that hailed from California. Their Facebook has not been updated since 2016, but their mission was to love the unloved & I feel we all understand that. Jesus does hear our cries & will be there for us no matter what even when we don’t understand ourselves.… Continued →

Ruby Joe was an awesome rocka/pscychobill band from California. They changed things up on their 2nd album which dabbled in swing. The original band that 2 members were in was named Strugglefish which is in reference I’m pretty sure to one of my all time faves 1st LP DigHayZoose which was actually my first review for one of their songs.… Continued →

There is simply not enough hip-hop on this site. Let’s fix that! I grew up in a small, very monochromatic town in Oklahoma, where most of the people had my skin color. In that part of the world, there were two kinds of music–country and heavy metal. In the 80s, a few of my friends who were more hip had started getting into this new “rap music” that I knew very little about.… Continued →

Havalina Rail Co. was a delightfully quirky, eccentric, genre-fusing and genre-bending experimental band from California. Across their 10-year career (give or take), the band dabbled in folk, ska, jazz, ragtime, blues, Americana, surf, and multiple internationally-themed genres. No two albums in their canon treads the same ground, and yet each successive opus is clearly recognizable as Havalina.… Continued →

San Diego-based rock band Robert Vaughn & the Shadows released their classic album Love & War in 1987. As fate would have it, it was the final release on Exit Records (home of Seventy Sevens, Vector and Charlie Peacock), and its partnership with Island Records. Due to the unfortunate demise of the label, the album never saw a CD release (only LP and cassette).… Continued →

Point of Recognition was a metalcore/spirit filled hardcore band that changed their sound after their Admiration of a Son LP.  The band came onto the scene when Underoath was still in their early days & No Innocent Victim was huge. TBH I never did care for their muddy hardcore sound after Admiration.… Continued →

Officer Negative is hxc punk at its finest imho. The Californian band even recently re-released some stuff last year from my recollection& I was able to buy a JCHC t-shirt! I am still stoked lol!. Anyways JCHC stands for Jesus Christ Hardcore & is an in your face about such. After the band disbanded, they formed a couple of other bands including hxc Hit the Deck metalcore The Death Campaign Project & cowpunk Zippy Josh.… Continued →

Altar Boys are a long running (formed in 1982) (punk) band whose very existence is a huge force in how our Christian punk subgenre has come to be. Mike Stand & company have done a wide variety of genres including modern rock (see my Clash of Symbols review) & rockabilly. There is a plethora of AB’s songs that I could have done for this SOTD, but 1000 Miles is about how Jesus loves us & is patiently waiting for us to turn to Him no matter how far we feel or seem to have gotten from Him.… Continued →

I first heard Nobody Special in 1989. My local contemporary Christian music radio station (KOKF 91.1 FM out of Oklahoma City) played their new album in its entirety over the airwaves. You see, KOKF was not your average CCM station. Sure, they played some adult contemporary and “inspirational” stuff during the daytime, but as the late afternoon and evening hit, they would feature more contemporary styles including pop, rap, rock, etc.… Continued →

I first heard L.S.U. in about 1991. I had been a pretty staunch metalhead, but a few alternative rock bands were starting to open me up to new colors in my musical palette. While the experimental This is the Healing was the first album I heard from them, The Grape Prophet is a favorite of fans and critics alike.… Continued →

Blackball is the reincarnation of Precious Death which was a funk alternative grunge band that had a decent following back in the 90’s. Their first LP 1996’s Super Heavy Dreamscape was a very appropriate name for the album as was a lot heavier in tone than their follow-up. Vocalist Chris Scott has a very distinct voice that seemed to crossover from grunge to funk very easily.… Continued →

I never did listen to this band when they were around, but caught up to them much later sad to say. This song has an awesome groove & is basically a worship song as shown by the lyrics below. The band got some mainstream success ban in the day when their song I Still Believe (which was also covered by Russ Taff) was in the vampire movie The Lost Boys Listed also is a live version just because 80s live videos are always a treat!… Continued →

I remember seeing this band in Missouri I believe back in 1994 era.  The band signed my t-shirt which was the Love Is Against The Grain cd cover. The band released a few songs on Christian modern rock radio back in the 90’s, but today’s SOTD stood out for obvious reasons.… Continued →

This is one of my favorite rock songs of the 80s. X-Sinner’s sound was akin to ACDC or Def Leppard soundalike, but that doesn’t mean they were a clone of either mainstream band. They had an area rock sound w/ a blues twist. Check out others by them that are a must have for any classic Christian rock playlist: Medicine, Walking Evil, Don’t Go, Lift Him Up or Accountable.… Continued →

California’s Number One Gun started as a full band, but over the years became a solo project for vocalist Jeff Schneeweis. I remember their songs On & On & You Fail Sometimes back in the day & knew this was good music. Bands like Anberlin & Project 86 ruled the Christian “radio” waves back then.… Continued →

Last Day Rising is an actual rock band from LA whose 4 band members released one S/T EP back in 2015. This SOTD is very catchy & IU had the chance to communicate with one of the band members on social media right when this song was released. The lyrics below remind me of a person’s desperate cry to God for help to change from sin & their need for YHWH’s help.… Continued →

Mike Stand has been mighty busy over the years with the ground breaking “punk” The Altar Boys, rockabilly Altar Billies, modern rock The Stand & Clash Of Symbols. I remember 7Ball magazine having this article featuring indie bands that included them, Raspberry Jam & the little known Sixpence None The Richer.… Continued →

Undercover went through a ton of style changes during their extensive tenure as a band. Labeled as new wave, punk, rock & even gothic, the band had its humble beginnings as a 2nd generation Jesus music band (which I briefly mentioned in another SOTD review) associated with Calvary Chapel in the early 80s.… Continued →

The amazing thing about “Martha” from Bloodshed’s 1995 self-titled EP isn’t just how complex it is. Yes, it hits that sweet spot, distinctive of top-notch emo-core where the perfect balance of harsh and soft, noisy and melodic come together. It’s also not how mature the lyrics are. They’re inspired by a poem written by a young girl (the song’s namesake) during World War 2.… Continued →

So this post marks my 100th for the site! Today’s SOTD features the newer band Lightworker from California & is great metalcore ballad that falls in the lines of TDWP: Louder Than Thunder, Underoath: Too Bright To See Too Loud to Hear & Fit For A king Skin & Bones. The song features the regular vocalist & also Laura McElroy who also sings for Comrades (a band that I’ve seen live).… Continued →

When I first heard this song, I was diving in the “alternative rock” scene & my musical overfilled mind was whirling from all this weird music that was not like the Petra’s or White Hearts I had grown up listening to. There were so many linked bands to this project such as Fluffy (check my review on Guitars Guns & Girls!)… Continued →

Veil of Ashes was a college rock band from Oakland, California, who debuted with the critically-acclaimed album Pain on Graceland Records (an imprint of Frontline) in 1989. While they had started out as a post-punk outfit with goth leanings, most of that influence had faded by the time their debut hit.… Continued →

Not to be confused with the AC pop band East to West (lol), Cali’s East West were a driving force in the rap metal scene in Christiandom along with EDL, Pillar, Beanbag, etc… I actually saw them live in Greenville, SC in the early 200s with Pillar & The Benjamin Gate.… Continued →

In the mid- to late-90s when all of the other Christian hardcore bands were doing new school/chugga chugga style hardcore with increasingly metallic influences, Bakersfield’s Chasm were drawing on earlier inspiration. These influences came mostly from the 80s British hardcore punk/d-beat sound (Discharge, Conflict, etc.), although somewhat ironically this track has elements of early black metal in the guitar riffs (a la Venom or Bathory).… Continued →