PFR

Item: Them
Author: Robert Berman

Them

(1996)

Reviewed by Robert Berman

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Label Vireo RecordsThe LighthouseDecember 1996

alternative rock pop rock power pop

Have you ever heard anyone say this about Christian musicians? "They all sound the same." This usually means two things-first, that Christian artists sound like each other, and second, that all the albums from a given artist sound the same. PFR has evaded the first criticism from the start, with their unique take on the classic Beatles sound which has more recently been exploited by artists from The Rembrandts to Oasis. And now the second criticism doesn't apply either. On Them, the band's final album, PFR grafts a heavier branch into their musical tree, adding musical muscle without turning things to mush.

"Pour Me Out" and "Daddy Never Cried," the album's opening songs, set the tone for the rest of the album: distorted guitars, feedback, and then some more guitars. Lead vocals are passed around the band as always, and all concerned rise to the challenge of the more throbbing nature of this album. Even gentler songs like "Ordinary Day" and "Fight" have plenty of fuzz to pass around, and keyboards are harder to find than ever before.

But the underlying theme remains the same one perfected by Lennon and McCartney thirty years ago-get in, hit 'em with the chorus, and get out. "Face to Face" and "Anything" show the clearest kinship to the Fab Four, probably due in part to the continued work of Jimmie Lee Sloas as producer. Despite the new harder edge, PFR's basic approach still has less in common with Mortal than with Newsboys, the band with whom PFR shares the Christian music pop/rock throne.

This album falls a little flat only in the absence of a killer single. On their Pray For Rain debut album, Joel Hanson and company had plenty of time to come up with their own best songs, like "Do You Want to Know Love" and "Let Go." But the years since then brought a flurry of quick releases-maybe too quick-as more songwriting (and song playing) duties were turned over to ex-Whiteheart guitarist Gordon Kennedy. Kennedy has since moved on to Dogs of Peace, his own band, and that vacuum is felt in the absence of a compellingly memorable song like "Life Goes On" or "That Kind of Love." The choruses on Them are uniformly catchy, but some of the verses wander for a while before getting there ("Say" and "Them," for instance).

This album is a fitting swan song for a group which, more than any other Christian band, has an intuitive understanding of how to wrap a melody into three minutes and thirty seconds of music. Old fans will certainly want this one for the collection, as will most anybody who enjoys modern pop/rock. With twelve songs to choose from, this collection avoids the "thirty minute album" syndrome despite the compactness of the songs. Most bands making their last album might not have bothered to try something a little different. PFR did, and it works, and they will be missed.