Switchfoot

Item: The Beautiful Letdown
Author: Josh Hurst

The Beautiful Letdown

(2003)

Reviewed by Josh Hurst

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Label Columbia Records / Sparrow RecordsThe Rebel Base2003

alternative rock modern rock pop rock power pop

Former President Calvin Coolidge once said that "the business of America is business." Well, if that's true, then the business of Switchfoot is crafting fun, profound, and delightfully edgy pop/rock, and the business of yours truly is writing remarkably cheesy opening paragraphs in his album reviews.

You'll have to excuse my less-than-professional approach; when my copy of Switchfoot's latest, greatest album, The Beautiful Letdown, arrived in the mail, I discarded my "critic" hat and shifted into hyper-fanboy mode. You see, Switchfoot has long been one of my very favorite bands, and having watched them grow, change, mature, and land an impressive mainstream record deal over the past few years has made me feel like a proud parent. Switchfoot has been one of America's most talented bands ever since their debut album, The Legend of Chin, and this year's masterful The Beautiful Letdown, their most accomplished recording yet, finds the band more deserving of critical and commercial success than ever before.

But allow me to don my critic hat once more and give you, reader, an honest look at the new record. The Beautiful Letdown follows the trend that has been present in Switchfoot's music from the very beginning: obvious growth and a sense of musical adventurousness.

With the addition of Jerome Fontamillas on keyboards and guitars, this trio-turned-quartet from San Diego has never sounded better, technically speaking. The rhythm team of drummer Chad Butler and bassist Tim Foreman keeps the beat with funk and rock 'n' roll swagger to spare, and the guitar riffs from Fontamillas and frontman Jon Foreman are Switchfoot's most inventive, catchy, playful, and utterly powerful since the days of Chin. Additionally, Fontamillas sprinkles some songs with tasteful amounts of electronica, and Jon's voice drips with passion and confidence.

The volume is cranked to eleven from the get-go; "Meant to Live," the album opener, is the most rocking track Switchfoot has ever recorded. The ferocious wall of electric guitar riffage will make headbangers swoon, and Jon's lyric is a telling, immediately-relatable look into the human heart: "We were meant to live for so much more/ Have we lost ourselves?/...and everything inside screams for second life." That sets the stage; The Beautiful Letdown, like past Switchfoot albums, is discontented with the way things are, but has hope for a better future, and searches for a better way of being human.

"This is Your Life," the heir apparent to the classic "I Dare You to Move," sails in on a trance-like sea of techno, but the rest of the band catches up with Jerome by the time we get to the chorus, a simple, direct question: "This is your life/ are you who you want to be?" Goosebumps ensue.

Funny that I should mention "Dare" and goosebumps together, because the haunting Switchfoot staple reappears on this album, vivified and more likely to send shivers up your spine than ever before. With a more aggressive vocal and guitars that sear and explode with more power than ever before, "I Dare You to Move" v. 2.0 is awesome in the most literal sense of the word; it actually fills one with awe.

The duration plays out like a sonic encyclopedia, highlighting the virtues of all things "modern rock." The title cut, for instance, uses soulful vocals and a dark sea of electronica to reinvigorate the "sci-fi gospel" genre that U2 pioneered with Zooropa. At the other end of the spectrum, "Gone" boasts joyful bursts of guitar that might remind some of Jimmy Eat World. The former is punctuated by a miniature gospel choir singing Jon Foreman's simple refrain of "I don't belong here," while the latter is the most fun song Switchfoot has recorded since "Company Car," packing in references to Frank Sinatra, Al Pacino, Bono, and even a sly allusion to Switchfoot's own "Ode to Chin," which will escape all but the most astute Switchfans.

Of course, this talk of modern rock influences is not to suggest that this foursome is a group of copy-cats or rock impersonators. Quite the contrary. Switchfoot have gained a few rungs on the creative ladder with every album they've made, growing up and trying new things every step of the way, not unlike the legendary REM. The Beautiful Letdown is a proverbial melting pot of musical influences, sampled from diverse heavenly bodies all across the rock galaxy.

These formidable rock 'n' roll fighters occasionally step out of the ring to take a breather, offering up some of their most haunting and beautiful ballads to date. "On Fire" allows the listener to taste an almost palatable longing, and "Twenty-Four" is one of the group's most affecting and gorgeous compositions to date, at once fervently worshipful, deeply personal, and seeker-friendly.

At the end of every album, Switchfoot's music has always been about the fear of apathy and the longing to change. Paradoxically, they invest every day with a supreme importance while also denying the crushing force of regrets and past mistakes. This particular album suggests that we were meant to live for more than mere survival, that just getting by is simply not good enough. Hope appears, however, in the promise that with every new day, we have a chance to cast aside the myriad of temporary trappings this world has to offer and focus on (if I may borrow from an older Switchfoot ditty) "a new way to be human."

These are powerful words and ideas that are just as revolutionary now as they were when Christ first introduced them, and lesser bands couldn't play these songs without coming across as pretentious or self-righteous. Thankfully, Switchfoot has the sonic goods to back up their proposals and their anthems of movement. Few records can match the fiery hybrid of passion, seasoned musicianship, eclectic influences, and complacency-defying poetry that is The Beautiful Letdown.

What an inappropriate title; the only letdowns here are that the band's previous material sounds almost stale after breathing the fresh air of this new batch of songs, and The Beautiful Letdown makes hearing all the inferior records that are bound to pop up all over the place this year all the sadder.

Review Summary:

1. What does the album sound like?

A fiery crucible of modern rock influences, sculpted into a sound that is undeniably "Switchfoot." Tasteful sprinkles of techno only enhance and punctuate the emotive musical language of this tight band.

2. Is the album well made?

Definitely. More so than 99.9% of the modern rock being cranked out by lesser bands these days. These guys are all technically excellent musicians, and Jon Foreman's poetry is some of the deepest and most soul-stirring of any songwriter of our day.

3. Will you enjoy the album?

Yes. If you like good rock music, then yes. And don't let the fact that these guys have distribution in Christian bookstores turn you off from their art; after all, U2 were once present in Christian stores, as well, and Switchfoot's music is no more obviously "Christian" than theirs.

4. Final Score: 5 out of 5.

5/5