Get Your Music on Amazon!
Get Your Music - and everything else - on Amazon! All purchases made on Amazon through this link earn a commission for Jesusfreakhideout.com!

JFH Music Review




The Revolution Will Begin In The Blink of An Eye Vol. 1
(Various Artists)



Project Info: !Hero website
Album length: 17 tracks
Street Date: 2003


So you're looking for the rock sampler of the year? Don't have much cash to spend? Trying to find some new music that's actually good? Mono vs. Stereo's first offering, the independent/unsigned band compilation The Revolution Will Begin In The Blink of An Eye Vol. 1, is what you've been searching for. Showcasing 15 up-and-coming artists, this compilation is the answer to mundane-rock monotony.

The disc kicks off with The Evan Anthem's "Goodnight, Good Fight," a rough mix that will appear in final form on this band's and MVS's debut album in September. Original modern rock with an emo feel, this song will make you think of everything that is right with alternative Christian music today. Fans of Holland or Jimmy Eat World will dig The Evan Anthem, as well as Wellwater with "On Our Way" and Johnny Come Lately's "Carry On." House of Heroes, an Ohio band that Relient K's Matt Thiessen has been talking about for ages, presents a standout track on the compilation with "Mercedes Baby," leaning more toward the side of Philmore's pop-punk with its hooky melody that just won't get out of your head.

Rock fans with a craving for something slightly more hardcore won't be disappointed by Mono vs. Stereo's efforts, either. Songs like Embraced's "Saratoga," Showdown's "Vow of Silence," Colson's "Lately," whose vocalist can actually sound like Incubus's Brandon Boyd when he's not screaming his vocal chords out, and Boywunder's "Reflections that Pale in Comparison," the hardest (or least intelligible) of the set, are sure to fulfill anyone's yearning for melodic and/or screaming metalcore.

With all the garage rock "The" bands flooding the mainstream (The White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines), the scene seems to be set for some pioneering new band to come in and blow it all up again. Enter The Connotations. Their demo version of "We Are Trouble by the Truckloads" sheds a promising light on the future of this genre, as well as showing off the versatility of the band. It goes from brash, barely intelligible vocals to sensitive crooning to an almost-poppy climax, all in one song that actually sounds good as a whole. Fans of Coldplay will get into Marcco's "A Beautiful Life," taken from their indie EP A Guide to Basketball. Matt Beckler also makes a laid-back showing with his jazz-influenced "In My Head."

If you're looking for music that will lift your spirits or cheer your weary soul, this sampler may not be the place to turn. It rocks all the way through, giving underground alternative fans hope for the musical future, and it is heavily influenced by lyrical explorations of spirituality - but most of these bands make it obvious that they're not going to sugarcoat real life. They explore the darker aspects of their existence as well as the hope and peace they have found that counter them. For example, these lyrics of The Uriah Omen's sometimes bitter-sounding demo, "Maybe the Butler Did It" - "I know I don't matter to you/ well thank you, goodbye…" Andy Zipf's "Running Out" and The Back Alley Fights' "The Cellar" also fall into this category.

If for no other reason, though, buy this compilation for the last song. Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes appear with this side project's second recording ever, "Poison Ivy" (the first was "I Hate Christmas Parties" on BEC's Happy Christmas Vol. 3). Relient K's lead singer exposes his sensitive side again while tickling the ivories in this heartbreaking ballad. "Poison ivy/ a better condition than I be/ hook me to an IV/ and I whisper 'why me?'" The tender sincerity in Matt's voice hits home, and by the time the horns come in with "Now I'm broken up/ because we've broken up…," it's easy to completely forget that this is the same guy who penned such odes to nonsense as "I'm Lion-O" and "Gibberish" -except that the same loving and open heart shows through here as well in everything else he does.

If this first compilation is any indication, Mono vs. Stereo has some great things in its future. I highly recommend seeing for yourself what the fuss is all about - and for just $5.99, what reason can you possibly have for not becoming part of the Revolution?

- Review date: 5/28/03, written by Jenn



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Try Pop Culture Coffee!

 


. Record Label: Mono Vs Stereo
. Album length: 17 tracks
. Buy It: Amazon.com

  1. Goodnight- Good Fight - The Evan Anthem
  2. Mercedes Baby - House of Heroes
  3. Saratoga - Embraced
  4. Vow Of Silence - Showdown
  5. On Our Way - Wellwater
  6. Carry On - Johnny Come Lately
  7. We Are Trouble By The Truckloads - The Connotations
  8. A Beautiful Life - Marcco
  9. Lately - Colson
  10. Maybe The Butler Did It - The Uriah Omen
  11. Running Out - Andy Zipf
  12. In My Head - Matt Beckler
  13. Reflections That Pale - Boywunder
  14. The Cellar - The Back Alley Fights
  15. Poison Ivy - Matthew Thiessen & the Earthquakes

     

     

    go to main Album review page
    go to Album review archive

     

     

                 
Try Pop Culture Coffee!

Search JFH



This Tuesday, June 3, 2025
SINGLES
Sixpence None The Richer The Needle and the Damage Done - Single [Flatiron]

This Friday, June 6, 2025
ALBUMS
CCV Hollow (Deluxe) (independent)
Ben Fuller Walk Through Fire [Provident]
Hopeful. The Wild One - EP (independent)
Christy Nockels King Who Never Sleeps; Anthems for Rest [The Fuel]

SINGLES
7eventh Time Down My Will - Single [BEC]
Bill B. & Cyrus Sonata Kevlar - Single [Syntax]
Elan Brio I'm Satisfied (ft. Henry Israel) - Single (independent)
Aaron Cole NOBODY BUT GOD - Single [Provident]
Equippers Worship Living in Freedom (Live) - Single [DREAM]
Good Weather Forecast Pray - Single [DREAM]
Ic3rd & EJ Swavv Woke Up (ft. CJ Emulous & George.Rose) - Single [Syntax]
King David tha Vessel Consistant - Single (independent)
Brandon Lake Daddy's DNA [Provident]
Myles Maestro Flood (ft. Ace Savage & Shruumi) - Single [Syntax]
Mell Omii Wave - Single [Syntax]
Kevi Morse Mr. Pilot - Single [Syntax]
River Valley Worship Time For Revival - Single [BEC]
Roy Tosh Everything's Gonna Be Alright (feat. PEABOD) - Single [RMG Amplify]
Solachi Voz All I Need - Single [Syntax]
Emilie Weiss Genesis (Studio Sessions) - Single [BEC]
Ayiesha Woods I Have Hope - Single [Backsider]

VINYL
Ironwrath Master Storyteller Vinyl [Girder]

Next Friday, June 13, 2025
ALBUMS
Coqui Death to Your Ego [DREAM]
King's Hammer To Speak In Tongues - EP [Rottweiler]
Brandon Lake King Of Hearts [Provident]
Joel Vaughn Feel It - EP [DREAM]
War of Ages Eternal (15th Anniversary Edition) [Facedown]

SINGLES
CalledOut Music Worthy of It All - Single [Integrity]
Equippers Worship Garment of Praise - Single [DREAM]
Mainstream Worship Near - Single [DREAM Worship]



For all release dates, click here!
 

Check out depositphotos for royalty free images