Tag: Tooth and Nail Records

March 13, 2024

We've Lost an Icon--R.I.P. Michael Knott

The world of Christian music has lost a true icon. Michael Knott was confirmed dead yesterday, March 12th. Knott was a true pioneer in independent Christian music, leading a plethora of bands, dabbling in multiple genres, engaging prolific solo work, in addition to being a visual artist. Starting in the 1980s, Knott joined existing band Lifesavors, a Southern California power pop/new wave band, but later took leadership of the band. Initially Knott continued the new wave direction, but things took a darker shade in 1987 when he rebranded the outfit LifeSavers Underground and released one of the most influential album our scene ever produced, Shaded Pain.… Continued →

January 20, 2024

Song of the Day: Fourth Estate - Poet's Lament vs Everdown - One Knuckle Shy

I have listened to many instrumentals over the years. There are not too many that land on radio. Prog’s Fourth Estate’s song here did back a long time ago If I can recall through the 7Ball Magazine’s charts. I still think Whitecross’s guitar solos are so talented. But, alas I wanted to share this band as their member Dave Beegle is still going strong all these years later. Check him out on Bandcamp. And Everdown’s track is just plain awesome!   Continued →

December 29, 2023

Song of the Day: Unashamed - Never Ends

This band from Southern California was one of the first wave of bands who set the foundation for what was known as “Spirit-filled hardcore.” A wave which also included Focused, Strongarm, Six Feet Deep and a handful of others, many of which remained unsigned. The scene was characterized by ‘new school’ or ‘chugga chugga’ or metallic hardcore of the early to mid-90s, combined with lyrics that were bold and unapologetic about faith issues. The first time I heard Unashamed was actually a live show as they were the opening band at the first Tooth and Nail Weekend in 1994, a mini-fest at the Where-House in Bartlesville, OK featuring all Tooth and Nail bands (also on the bill were Focused, Chatterbox, Plankeye, Starflyer 59 and Wish for Eden who sadly had to cancel due to a broken down van).… Continued →

December 1, 2023

Song of the Day: Poor Old Lu - All Pretty for the TV

Poor Old Lu are/were one of the most celebrated alternative rock bands in the Christian scene. They hit at the height of the Christian indie scene in the 1990s, and formed a core unit of alternative rock bands that included The Prayer Chain, Plankeye, Starflyer 59 and a handful of others. Hailing from the Seattle area, the band also had close ties with others in the scene like Pedro the Lion, Damien Jurado, Blenderhead, and even Sunny Day Real Estate (vocalist Jeremy Enigk provided guest vocals on one POL track).… Continued →

November 15, 2023

November 6, 2023

REVIEW : Teeth for Eyes - Teeth for Eyes EP

This punk rock supergroup features ex-members of Crux, Empty Tomb, Cicero, and Gov’t Hate Mail. So you can see why I was excited about hearing this disc. The EP contains 7 songs, clocks in around 17 minutes, and comes as a pro-CDr in a standard jewel case with a single panel insert with credits and no lyrics. Musically what we have here is no frills punk rock and roll. It’s not quite as spastic as Crux, and doesn’t have the hardcore/thrash leanings of Empty Tomb. When comparing to its members previous projects, it’s probably closest to Gov’t Hate Mail, but just slightly heavier than that project.… Continued →

September 8, 2023

May 12, 2023

Song of the Day: Twothirtyeight - Songs Will Write the Words

Early 2000s emo, you gotta love it! One of the best, and painfully one of the most obscure in the genre was twothirtyeight (or sometimes 238). The band hailed from Pensacola, FL in the state’s panhandle. Florida seemed to be a haven for emo and hardcore during that era, and many of those bands ended up on Birmingham, AL’s Takehold Records, and then eventually on Tooth & Nail when they bought Takehold’s roster and much of its back-catalogue. Twothirtyeight played a style of emo that minimized the hardcore influence and instead delved into a deeply emotional form of indie rock, like secular counterparts in Braid, Cursive, or Christie Front Drive.… Continued →

April 28, 2023

Song of the Day: Delta Haymax - Tidal Wave

Gosh, this song . . . this band . . . has a way of evoking memories of a certain period of my life. Lo-fi indie rock with only 2 members. One on guitar and vocals, and the other on drums. They released a very short–only 3 songs–but brilliant self-titled EP on Tooth & Nail in 1997. T&N had a fantastic run of EPs around that time (Pedro the Lion, Warlord, Inner Means, Training for Utopia, etc.) and this was certainly one of them. The songs were lo-fi, but not noisy.… Continued →

April 22, 2023

March 13, 2023

Song of the Day: Don't Know - Helium

Early Tooth & Nail bands were awesome-what the heck happened? The label has a wide variety of artists back in the day whose sounds were not heard of really in the CCM industry. Hence we have Don’t know: a hybrid of funk, punk & metal that sounds akin to Primus or Mr. Bungle. Members of this band have a very long discography with other bands such as Blenderhead, 90 Lb Wuss, Roadside Monument, etc… Check em out & their reviews on Amazon!   Continued →

February 22, 2023

February 20, 2023

January 6, 2023

Song of the Day: Coolidge - Trapped

The best way I can describe Coolidge is as a sort of ‘prequel supergroup.’ All of the members are now well-known for their contributions to indie rock, though none of them were very well-known at the time, and Coolidge remains a fairly obscure blip on the map of alternative music. Formed in 1992, the band featured Damien Jurado on bass and vocals, David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones, Lo Tom) on drums, and Eben Haase (Blenderhead, Don’t Know) on guitar. They played an intense and unique form of emo-core that interweaved lo-fi indie rock into the mix.… Continued →

November 23, 2022

Song of the Day: Morella's Forest - Voices Carry

Who besides me think covers can be awesome? Well MF did a great cover of ‘Til Tuesday’s classic song. Sydney has a unique voice & it does carry throughout this song. I listened to their Hang out EP for hours as a kid. I loved the shoegazing aspects of fuzz from MF & Starflyer. Tooth & Nail were putting out very different music sounds from the rest of the “Christian” market back then & I was fully on board. Before joining the military I had dreams of going to work for the label.… Continued →

November 19, 2022

September 7, 2022

Song of the Day: The Supertones - Little Man

So what is the actual name of this band? The Supertones, Supertones, OC Supertones! Anyways, they got the whole Christian industry into 3rd wave ska music. The other 2 Five Iron Frenzy & The Insyderz caught on right afterwards if I remember correctly. My acquaintance from high school was actually trying to bring them to Bloomington/Normal Illinois, but from what I gather they got stuck in a snow storm. Pretty sure this was circa 1995. Anyways, the bass lead is fun to play & not that difficult if you want to learn it.… Continued →

August 15, 2022

Song of the Day: Sometime Sunday - Blue

Sometime Sunday’s first LP on T&N is one of my fave albums of the 90s. They spun off into a few different directions such as Tragedy Ann, Rock N Roll Worship Circus, Tomfest, etc… This song may sound cool, but its a harsh reality to those of us who have ever dealt with lust. If one needs a good book to read on the subject, check out Ted Robert’s Pure Desire. Looks like I already wrote a SOTD on Tragedy Ann if you want to read it in the archives.… Continued →

August 13, 2022

July 31, 2022

REVIEW : Ronnie Martin - From the Womb of the Morning, the Dew of Your Youth Will Be Yours

Most of you will know that Ronnie Martin has been making music since the late 80s (at least) with Morella’s Forest 1988, Dance House Children, and most famously Joy Electric, not to mention a host of side projects like Ronald of Orange, The Foxglove Hunt, The Brothers Martin, and so forth. While there’s a lot of history with Martin’s expertise in making quirky, electronic pop music, in a sense none of that matters. Not that the history isn’t respectable–but what we really want to know is, is this record going to be good?… Continued →

July 22, 2022

Song of the Day: Joy Electric - The Cobbler

I’ve been listening to Ronnie Martin’s music since the late 80s, when he and brother Jason (of Starflyer 59 and many others) were known as the duo Dance House Children. That group reveled in synth-pop, but with a super quirky edge. There was nothing in the Christian nor secular markets quite like it. After two underrated albums, the pair split. Jason started the legendary indie rock monster Starflyer 59, while Ronnie carried on with synthesizer-created music in the form of Joy Electric. Picking up where Dance House Children left off, Joy Electric took the quirkiness to extreme new levels.… Continued →

July 18, 2022

July 13, 2022

June 27, 2022

Song of the Day: Slick Shoes - Fulfilling

This band is cool. I remember seeing them back in the day & I was impressed. I’d consider them pop punk & they were one of the early T&N bands that I had collected. Chose this one as I always understood the lyrics. The life’s torn from you, there is nowhere to turn. You’re all alone, you feel hollow and empty. Nothing you do can suppress the heartache that you feel. The only strength you have is used to cry in misery. Could you fill the hole you’ve made inside your heart, when you can’t erase your past mistakes?… Continued →

June 24, 2022

The Ongoing Concept, Fallstar, The Undertaking!, and Meadows Fall 2022 Tour

A very special Solid State Records / Facedown Records mashup, mixtape in the form of a tour is taking place this fall. The bands – The Ongoing Concept, Fallstar, The Undertaking!, and Meadows, will all be playing together for a few dates this fall. This will be the first time The Ongoing Concept is touring in over 6 years!. The Ongoing Concept, Fallstar, and The Undertaking! will all have new music out in 2023 via their respective labels. Check out the dates and tour graphic, below.… Continued →

May 16, 2022

Song of the Day: Acceptance - Fire & Rain

Acceptance is a pop punk band from Washington state. I remember their song Different on mainstream radio back when emo ruled the airwaves in the early to mid 2000s. They had originally broke up in 2006, but reunited in 2017 & released albums on the label that I have always wanted to work for: Tooth & Nail. They have toured with Anberlin, Finch, Further Seems Forever & The Julian Theory all of whom I have seen live. The band has had several catchy songs including Take Cover, Not Afraid & this SOTD.… Continued →

May 13, 2022

Song of the Day: The O.C. Supertones - Adonai

No, The Supertones weren’t the first Christian ska band. The Israelites’ first album pre-dated them by a year. But in the UK, Rev Counta and the Speedoze* (another incarnation of Ishmael United) had released a full-length as early as 1980! And perhaps some Jamaican bands that didn’t fit into the CCM/CBA mold had been active earlier than that, it’s hard to say. However, the Supertones were the first Christian ska band to release an album on a nationally-distributed label, releasing The Adventures of the O.C. Supertones just a few months before Five Iron Frenzy dropped Upbeats and Beatdowns.… Continued →

April 16, 2022

April 15, 2022

Song of the Day: MxPx - Want Ad

Y’all better to get ready to put your boxing gloves on. You ready for this? Pokinatcha is the best MxPx (Magnified Plaid) album. Why? It was melodic, but still very much punk–bordering even on old school hardcore at times. It’s by far their most unique record, before they settled into the more polished pop-punk sound that everyone remembers. To be clear, I have no problem with the direction they later took (except for maybe moving further away from Christian spirituality and theology as the years went by, but that’s another post altogether).… Continued →

April 11, 2022