Ep. 32 – “Loud and Clear” O.C. Supertones Review – Aug 22, 2008

Two days ago i went to lunch with a friend.  We walked down the street to one of my favorite little sandwich places.  Lunch was great and we had a really good time talking and thinking about the approaching school year and what God was going to do on our campus this year.  On the way home we passed by a christian bookstore and she asked if we could go in because she was looking for a book there.  I casually strolled over to there music section to browse.  I wasn’t really expecting to find anything there, I had been there before and had ever only found one really good CD (although that one CD was a really good find, Buck Enterprises “Live Worship” – Christian Ska band from Detroit playing worship songs… it’s great and it was only like 5$ )  Anyway, i wasn’t expecting to find anything but all of a sudden i look down and see a great CD staring me in the face.

“Loud and Clear” – The O.C. Supertones

To tell you the truth when i first heard the Supertones I wasn’t really impressed…  The reason, i believe, is because I wanted them to be another Five Iron Frenzy.  I got really into Five Iron Frenzy sophomore year of high school, downloaded all there albums and loved them all.  I started to wish there were more FIF albums but sadly by then FIF had already called it quits.  So I decided to check out other Christian Ska bands.  I checked out the Supertones and didn’t quite like them…  They weren’t FIF (which now seems like a silly reason not to like a band…)  Another thing i didn’t like about them at the time was their lyrics… i thought they were too preachy…  Now I  know that’s because the music convicted me, i wasn’t really living my life for Christ in those days, I was rather luke-warm and I had little interest in Christian music that talked about God all the time (but i only listened to Christian music – figure that one out… lol)  Now the lyrics are one of the great things about the Supertones and one of the reasons I love them so much!  This album, their fourth release, is one of their best and it included my all time favorite Supertones song; “Jury Duty”.  This song is about how we should praise and thank God even during or crappy days and our bad times.  It is such a great song!  The entire song is great but i’ll share only the first verse with you here:

5 am on tuesday
Why am I up so early
Drive out to santa ana ’cause I’ve got jury duty
No breakfast short tempered
And I cut my head shaving
Ten miles out I hit traffic
Some days just aren’t worth saving

You know I haven’t had the best of days
But I want to stop and thank you anyway

You really should check that song out!  Other great songs on the album include “Pandora’s Box,” “Wilderness,” and “Forward to the Future.”  Really the whole album is great though.  If you love Ska, or just love music that glorifies God and really has something to say, I recommend checking this CD out… it’s a few years old but shouldn’t be too hard to find if you look in the right place.  I probably could have found it for cheaper but it was an impulse buy   Price Paid: $13.99

Yesterday I found yet another great album and i am in the process of soaking it in, so a review for that one is immenant.  Check back soon!