The Swirling Eddies
Sacred Cows
Reviewed by Chris Well
The Swirling Eddies have often been a hard read. Essentially a zany side project for several members of the alternative pioneers in Daniel Amos (it's not a guy, it's a band) and one guy from Adam Again, the Eddies have regularly done their best to have a good time and make people think. Which brings us to Sacred Cows, which, oddly, may end up as the band's biggest, most famous record: Sacred Cows remakes semi-famous songs from artists you prob'ly hear a lot on your parents' Christian radio station. Is it a tribute? Is it a parody? Somehow, the Swirling Eddies manage both, all in loopy fun. The album opens with DeGarmo & Key's "God Good, Devil Bad," rebuilt as an off-kilter polka (complete with extra words, such as "sun hot/snow cold" and "knife sharp/spoon dull"). Others include Carman's "Satan, Bite The Dust" (the heavy lisp helps us understand how God often uses the non-glamorous to fulfill His will); dc Talk's "I Luv Rap Music" (which, as a lounge song, highlights the essential irony that the original wasn't much of a rap song, either); and a medley combining Al Denson's "Alcatraz" with Audio A's "Big House" (suddenly it's about "the BIG house"). Since ringleader Terry Taylor has, over the course of some 20 years, written some of the most profound songs of the faith--even with the "all in fun" Eddies, tracks like "Outdoor Elvis" (about cults and tabloids), "Hide the Beer, the Pastor's Here" (a rant against legalism) and "Billy Graham" (an ode of genuine respect)--it's odd to think he may become more famous for singing a collection of songs that reduce the Gospel to a bumpersticker (except in the case of "God Good, Devil Bad," which isn't even a complete bumpersticker). Sacred Cows is not perfect--the novelty factor runs high, for one; also, some of these tracks are sloppy enough to be unlistenable. Still, it would be hasty to write Sacred Cows off as nonsense--whether as a parody of poor songwriting, or as a loopy tribute to mainstream Christian music. It's actually both. Besides, I would spend $15 on Sacred Cows just for "God Good, Devil Bad." In a heartbeat. It's not often you find a punch-drunk polka where you learn a lesson, too.