Tag: Tooth and Nail Records
March 13, 2024
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!
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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
Song of the Day: Ace Troubleshooter - Mothra (But For Grace)
Minnesota’s Ace Troubleshooter was a pretty cool pop punk band back in the day. They were very close with Relient K & vocalist John played bass with RK & RKs drummer Dave played in Ace. Check out this catchy this SOTD & those of us into Godzilla & other kaiju will did the title (although I have no clue as to why it’s included).
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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
Rumors of a Joe Christmas Reunion Just Might Be True!
Jeremy Alan Gould has done it again! His regular podcast “The Rumors Are True” recently featured Russell Holbrook of Joe Christmas and World Against World. In the episode, there’s real talk of a possible Joe Christmas reunion. Check out the episode here:
Russell Holbrook interview at The Rumors Are True… Continued →
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
Song of the Day: Chatterbox - Epignosis
This release was a side project of Jeff Belew who has been in a slew of music endeavors over the years. The music is industrial metal & is a classic in the genre. Guest vocals in this SOTD is Mark Salomon. Pic is Jeff & Scott Albert aka Celldweller aka Circle of Dust.
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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!
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February 22, 2023
Song of the Day: Havalina Rail Company - Worst Days
Getting their name from The Pixies, this band was all over the place with their indie rock sound. There’s at least one song from every album that I have enjoyed over the years. Check em out.
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February 20, 2023
Song of the Day: Furthermore - Letter to Myself vs Are You the Walrus
Furthermore was an indie hip hop band from Tooth & Nail records. They were very accessible to those who were into rap & rock. Check em out.
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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
Song of the Day: Element 101 - Standing On the Edge of Night
Saw this band with Slick Shoes many years ago. Hung outside the place w/ the guitarist & drummer from what I remember. Hope you remember & like them as much as I have over the years.
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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
Song of the Day: Side Walk Slam - I'll Be Waiting at the Southside Tracks
So yep, totally got to see this band live a week ago! They reformed as Run Kid Run before disbanding. I’m not sure how long the reunion will be or if it was just a one off, but I was happy nevertheless. And yes, that is the doxology in acapella at the end of the song.
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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
Song of the Day: Argyle Park - Gutterboy vs Resurrection of the Ravens
Argyle Park-nuff said! For real, if you like industrial music at all, you will like this. Their first LP was a bit indie sounding, but things freshened up by the time AP2 was released. And then Scott remastered everything.
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July 13, 2022
Song of the Day: Emery - Walls
So Emery has got some new stuff coming out as we have seen. Seen them live a few time snow & they actually started out in this town I used to live in called Rock Hill, SC, but had moved on unfortunately before I arrived. They have a lot going on but this was their first video & song that brough them to our attention.
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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
Song of the Day: Crux - Circle
Crux is a hxc crust punk band that released albums on Tooth & Nail and Boot 2 Head Records. They had a music video for Wasted Day that can easily be found. This song I remember being on a Christian loud music chart back in the day. Be prepared to headbang!
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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
Song of the Day: Blenderhead -Cesspool
Blenderhead was a weird band to me back in the day: I had their t-shirt w/ the logo for Prime Candidate in high school. MXPX was my fave punk band & this song I heard on an indie Christian terrestrial radio show & then Haven came out on a T&N comp. The bass is what drew this song to me.… Continued →