Bearing resemblance to the Foo Fighters, Pete Yorn, and a more grunge, less pop oriented Jimmy Eat world, Mourning September hops on the bandwagon of young, fresh faces in the Christian rock movement. Garage rock meets emo on the band's debut A Man Can Change his Stars in a way that will greatly appeal to fans of either genre, but will most likely bore all others.

Not that there is anything wrong with Mourning September. They bear a certain "gift and curse" by being an "exclusive" band. Simply put, these guys are not trying very hard to appeal to more people by infusing elements of more popular genres into their music. This makes for somewhat unhappy listeners, but diehard fans of garage rock and emo will find a lot to like about Mourning September.

A Man Can Change His Stars deals mostly with subjects of relating to God. "Running" deals with someone running from God. "What are you running from?… Your eyes deceive what you know to believe." "Glorietta" marvels at God's newness each and every day, "Overnight, You take away the weeping, wake me from my sleeping; and I greet the morning light. Overwhelmed, I turn my face to see You. Once again, I'm free to live my glorietta life." And "Break Them Down" deals with breaking barriers we have set between ourselves and God.

Tony Chavez's passionate and echoing vocals guide this album through all ten tracks. He often drags words out at the end of his sentences for a very effective, melodic, and ambient tone.

Mourning September is one of those bands that will most likely never develop a big fan base, but the fans they will acquire through A Man Can Change his Stars and beyond will be very devoted. But regardless of whether you are a fan of the genres or not, this is a quality band that is doing things just a little bit differently than everyone else.

- Review date: 08/7/04, written by Josh Taylor of Jesusfreakhideout.com