Music for Driving

I find long trips in the car to be my favorite time for listening to music. On the interstate, with hours and miles ahead of me, I can really get into an album.

This week, I had a three hour drive from Cook Forest in Pennsylvania back down to St. Clairsville, so I decided to listen through a couple albums in their entirety:

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Through the Deep, Dark Valley by The Oh Hellos

My brother pointed me to this album in September and I have been hooked on it ever since. It's an album in the best sense - a complete work. They say on their site that the record is "a self-contained concept album, and so for best results should be listened to in its entirety, in chronological order, in one sitting."
And they're right - though every song on the album is good on its own, together, in order, they make sense. It's a story of searching for God and finding redemption.

I seriously recommend listening to this album.

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Engine of a Million Plots by Five Iron Frenzy

FIF came into my life in college. I was in the midst of discovering a whole world of new music when I stumbled upon this goofy, intense, and musically fascinating Christian ska band. They wrote songs that were funny, songs that were challenging, and songs that were uplifting. I was an immediate fan and listened as much as I could.

And then, only two years after I found them, FIF announced they were calling it quits. I did get to see them in concert, but was sad that I wouldn't hear anything new from what was, by that point, my favorite band.

Then, in 2011, FIF announced that they were getting back together and used Kickstarter to fund a new album. That album, Engine of a Million Plots, was released this year.

I've listened to it a lot. At first I was apprehensive - I was worried that nothing could measure up to my memory of the band and the hype surrounding their reunion; but, as I've listened to the record over the last few weeks, I've fallen in love with FIF's music all over again.

Their sound has matured: they still use horns in a rock band like no one else and that has only gotten better. 

I've always loved their lyrics: on Engine they bring the same thoughtful perspective to faith and life they've always had, but I think their voice has grown wiser with age - it doesn't sound jaded, but it acknowledges the struggles that everyone, even Christians, face.

Engine of a Million Plots is a high energy, fun rock album and I am fully satisfied with this second act of Five Iron Frenzy.