Dyersburg, Tenn.-based musical duo Jacob's Road (not to be confused with the late, great Jacob's Trouble, a band I sorely miss) is a wholesome duo that is treading the well-worn road of independently released Christian pop with an "edge." In fact, when I saw the album cover I immediately thought of early-'90s Christian husband-wife bands Acoustic Shack and Avenue G. Alas, Jacob's Road is not nearly as good as those aforementioned acts.
But these two singers aren't married to one another. You have two Christian worship leaders that crossed paths and felt the call to spread their message. And when it's done right it works well and when it's done not so well, it's still relatively palatable. In the case of Jacob's Road, Coffey and Robey have done a decent job with their self-titled debut which is being offered by the Nashville Publicity Group.
Of the eleven tracks featured here, the catchy pop-rock track "You Ugly" -- which sounds like something Geoff Moore and the Distance might have penned during their acne-pop phase in the mid-'90s -- is their best offering. With a little polish, I think radio programmers could make "You Ugly" a hit, not unlike those Christian novelty songs the W's were putting out a few years back. Who can forget "The Devil is Bad"? I saw them perform that song when they were opening up for dc Talk back in '99 and never quite got it outta me noggin. That's the route Jacob's Road should take.
But back to the songs. Over all, the Christianese lyrics are fairly standard and the musicianship is neo-Nashvillian, but in a way that is soooo 1991. I've heard it all before.
And while the album is fine, the songs are a bit forgettable. Next time I hope Coffey and Robey will channel some of their energy into coming up with more imaginative lyrics and some more seasoned studio musicians. If they don't I'm afraid Jacob's Road will have a future in the Wal-Mart cutout bin.
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