Switchfoot, 'Hello Hurricane'

Christian rockers develop a U2 fixation on their seventh record, succeed halfway

By Kirk Miller

Metromix

Release date: November 10, 2009
Record label: lowercase people/Atlantic
Official Web site: http://www.switchfoot.com/

The buzz: A moderate presence in both the Christian market and on the alternative charts over the past few years (you may remember the songs "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move"), Switchfoot recorded most of their new album without a label after leaving Columbia Records a few years back. Apparently liking what they heard, Atlantic Records agreed to distribute the finished LP, their seventh as a band.

The verdict: Like many groups straddling the secular and religious, Switchfoot's main issue has been, and continues to be, their lack of edge—the songs on "Hurricane" are lyrically simplistic, full of vague notions of hope, love, loss and redemption, with nothing controversial or deep arising from the muddled thoughts of frontman Jon Foreman. And when the band gets down on itself, as in the fuzzy garage rocker "Mess of Me," it's hard to believe—these guys sound WAY too well adjusted. Musically, however, the group is deft, mixing the best of Bono ("Needle and Haystack Life," the "Vertigo" wannabe "Bullet Soul") with the basic tenets of mainstream alt-rock (fuzzed-out guitars, loud/soft/loud dynamics, ballads straight outta the Coldplay handbook). It's a great radio record, and more accessible than, say, the last few U2 or Smashing Pumpkins albums...but where's the soul?

Did you know? Part of this disc was produced by hip-hop guru Mike Elizondo, best known for his work with Dr. Dre and Eminem. Other producers on the record include Rob Cavallo (Green Day), Ken Andrews (former frontman for '90s cult rockers Failure) and jazz/Christian music producer Charlie Peacock.