Jesus Music
3-D
Reviewed by Mark Reno
Proving to be one of the most fun musical surprises of recent memory, the band Jesus Music fuses bright-colored guitar pop and imaginative metaphors. On 3-D, the band draws from such unlikely, diverse musical traditions as The Doors, The B-52s, Talking Heads and XTC. Their groovin' (and groovy) psychedelic-flavored guitar music is wrapped around such statements as "3-D" (celebrating the broader perspective you can get from being Born Again), "More Than Tuesday" (about the importance of living out your faith), and "At the Movies" (contrasting the facade of make-believe with the harshness of reality). They explore the issue of self-esteem through a trilogy: The brooding "Painless Shame" uses a dark groove to comment, You must love yourself before anybody else can; "Child of the Living God" rapid-fires all of the self-recriminations that only God's love can heal; the off-kilter "Misfit Toy" (referencing the TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) outlays how fractured we are, but we can be repaired by "the Master Toymaker." 3-D also includes the hilarious pairing of "Born to Be Wild" (yes, the hippie classic rock song) and the disco-fied "Wild Child," which urges listeners to not be lukewarm, but excited about their faith. 3-D is a rare find. If your youth group is throwing a shindig, I'd be hard pressed to think of a better party record.