Evening, gang!
Yesterday I wrote about Young the Giant's superb single 'My Body', which has proven to be a great song that has some staying power. In the interest of looking at the world from the opposite perspective I want to spread the good word about a song that never hit the charts like that, at all. I want to let everyone know about the amazing-ness that is Craig's Brother and their phenomenal song, 'Glory'.
Whereas Young the Giant have had the backing of a major label and tons of buzz, Craig's Brother were/are a fairly obscure band on Tooth & Nail Records. Tooth & Nail is often labeled a Christian record label, but that's really not the case - they just tended to be more affiliated with Christian acts than others and ended up with that reputation as a result. So Craig's Brother was a small punk outfit, grinding away on the label. They released a couple albums with them, but their behavior (which tended to cause issues with some family-friendly distributors) got them dropped. The band split for a while, but has since reformed and released another album. In all that time, though, I really only heard one great song of theirs on a compilation and then nothing after that for years. That one song, though, really stayed with me. So I want to make sure just as many people are aware of this great song as they are of yesterday's song.
'Glory', released by the band on their barely-promoted 2001 album Lost At Sea, is a speeding and intense number about the absurdity of sending our children off to war. To clarify, this is not critical of American foreign policy and our current conflicts, as it was released before any of our modern wars. Rather the song is about the seemingly incomprehensible notion of sending impossibly young men out to wage war and die for concepts that are, at times, ill defined. The opening lines, in particular, are revelatory: "And I wonder how Franklin felt in '42 when the war's still new but I'm tired of fighting..." Singer Ted Bond goes on to sing about the dichotomy of how we tend to idealize these young men as unimpeachable heroes while in reality they were just as scared and uncertain as anyone else could be. It is, in essence, a complex song whose message is not clear cut.
Despite the uncertain tone of the lyrics I was hooked by the music Bond put beneath them. The vocals and instrumentation are clearly inspired by Bad Religion and Pennywise, possessing the fast-ball tempo and rapid-fire guitar and bass parts. I love the central riff with the single guitar lick over the chords. The way the band drops to half-time in the chorus is fantastic, as well. That subtle switch offers a brief respite from what would otherwise be a repetitive number.
Not every band gets their fair shake. Not every album leaps to the top of the charts, or even finds their audience in the world of P2P and iTunes. Craig's Brother was troubled from the get go, but in their time together they crafted one of my secret favorite songs. There is no one else I know that has even heard of the group. Hopefully after reading this, you'll give them a chance.
Yesterday I wrote about Young the Giant's superb single 'My Body', which has proven to be a great song that has some staying power. In the interest of looking at the world from the opposite perspective I want to spread the good word about a song that never hit the charts like that, at all. I want to let everyone know about the amazing-ness that is Craig's Brother and their phenomenal song, 'Glory'.
Not every band gets their fair shake. Not every album leaps to the top of the charts, or even finds their audience in the world of P2P and iTunes. Craig's Brother was troubled from the get go, but in their time together they crafted one of my secret favorite songs. There is no one else I know that has even heard of the group. Hopefully after reading this, you'll give them a chance.
