Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 14!
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JFH Music Review



Surrogate
Love is For the Rich



Album length: 12 tracks: 48 minutes, 32 seconds
Street Date: August 28, 2007


Call it folk-rock. Call it indie-pop. Call it two former members of Number One Gun coming out of Northern Cali with a decidedly different flavor than anything else on Tooth & Nail's roster. Bravo to the label for branching out and attempting to tap into music beyond their stigma.

Surrogate is, even in its established sound, quite varied. The album opener "Shift the Blame" sets the listener's palette to the softer side of melody, with its simple acoustic progression and echoed vocals. The song never really fills up, even when sustained piano, background cymbal taps, and a harmonizing voice enter in almost at the end. This type of minimalism isn't completely indicative of the rest of the album, though. "Photographic Memory" skirts the edge of a soft alt-rock tone, while "Papertrail" ditches the acoustic foundation altogether, giving way to what starts as a typical indie-rock song while the fuller moments drain into contrasting verses which make the tune as a whole feel delightfully conflicted. "Problem Solving" sounds very Eisley-influenced, "15" belongs on a Shins album, and "Fence" ranks up there with the best sway-rhythm piano-centric contemplation pieces. Musically the slow tempo, indie-folk foundation is never too far departed from, although it is augmented to a pleasant degree most of the time.

Fans of the hyphenated genres mentioned will find something to like about Love is For the Rich. Be prepared for a contemplative listen, with a deceptively empty sound- each subsequent play revealing a little more of the subtlety. Lyrically, most of the songs are stories or commentaries on relationship, embarrassment, indecision, and patience… mostly without metaphor or any spiritual profundity to elevate it above other bands of a similar breed. The end result of the music and lyric in aggregate is that you'll end up asking yourself if you've heard this album before. There's room to grow for Surrogate and they've got the beginnings of something great here.

- Review date: 8/23/07, written by David Goodman



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. Record Label: Tooth & Nail Records
. Album length: 12 tracks: 48 minutes, 32 seconds
. Street Date: August 28, 2007
. Buy It: Amazon.com

  1. Shift the Blame
  2. 15
  3. Talk of the Weather
  4. Photographic Memory
  5. Death Penalty
  6. Problem Solving
  7. Easy
  8. Papertrail
  9. Fix Another
  10. Stay Out of the Sun
  11. Upside Down Pictures
  12. Fence
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Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
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Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics
Click For Audio Sample   Click For Song Lyrics

 

 

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This Friday, October 3, 2025
ALBUMS
BASECAMP Beautiful Like the Truth [Polished Arrow]
Pat Barrett I've Got A Fire [Capitol CMG]
Elan Brio Millennium Funk (independent)
Kristene DiMarco MEMORADUM - EP [Bethel]
Heath McNease Autumn Sessions, Vol. 2 (independent)
Mystical Death Carnation EP (Remastered) [Rottweiler Records]
Matt Redman Life & Breath [Integrity]
Thrive Worship Jesus Song - EP [Integrity Music]
Bay Turner Better Days - EP [Centricity Music]
John Van Deusen As Long As I Am In The Tent of This Body I Will Make a Joyful Noise Pt. 1 [Anotherland]

SINGLES
Gabby Barrett Ain't Supposed To Be - Single [Warner Music Nashville]
Mark Bishop Time To Let Go and Let God - Single [Sonlite]
Franni Cash Church Clothes - Single [Capitol CMG]
ChristianXXII & Futuristic Already Won - Single [DREAM]
Damian Back To You - Single [DREAM]
Dex the nerd who loves Jesus Salvation - Single [Syntax]
Drenae To the Cross - Single [Syntax]
Emerson Day This House Won't Fall - Single [Fair Trade]
Chris Ekiss Life's Biggest Questions - Single [Provident]
The Forerunner Manifesto (independent)
for KING + COUNTRY World on Fire (feat. Taylor Hill) - Single [Curb Records]
Forrest Frank JESUS IS COMING BACK SOON (feat. Josiah Queen) - Single [River House]
Vic Lucas Make a Way - Single [Syntax]
No Vain Glory MOVE YOUR BODY - Single [Syntax]
Nathan Oswalt MAKE UP YOUR MIND - Single (independent)
Drew Parker Blame Jesus - Single [Warner Music Nashville]
Razzie SHORTCUTS - Single [Syntax]
Shamash The Gulf Between Us - Single [Rottweiler]
Anne Wilson Carry Me - Single [Capitol CMG]
Zahriya Zachary Stay - Single [Bethel]

VINYL
Bleach Live/The Lost Show Vinyl (independent)

Next Friday, October 10, 2025
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Tasha Layton Life in Me [BEC]

SINGLES
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Chosen Road Daddy Was a Navy Man - Single [Thoroughbred]
Drakeford Writing on the Wall - Single (independent)
Amy Jay Back to What's Natural - Single (independent)
Run51 Song Of My Soul - Single [DREAM]
Zane Vickery Name (Live at Greenbriar) - Single (independent)
Vineyard Worship & Dreaming The Impossible Praise You For Eternity - Single [Vineyard]


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