Released 26 years ago today, this is the third album from ska/punk band Five Iron Frenzy. This Denver-based punk band with horns has never been a band I've really listened to a lot, but I've always had friends who were big fans and I've always respected them a lot. So it's been fun to give them a closer listen, mostly decades after their albums released. Like most ska/punk bands, these songs are short, so 14 songs is only 45 minutes. But it's a fun, driving run of an album, and a close listen to the lyrics finds some interesting things that you do not expect from a band distributed to Christian bookstores. Songs like "World Without End" definitely include lyrics of praise to God, but many other songs deftly critique much of American Christianity's main tenets: capitalism, consumerism and creating a safe sub-culture. There's also some references to American Christianity's checkered past on loving your neighbor and predicting a grim future if changes are not made. But there's also lots of humor and fun in here too, with songs like "Phantom Mullet", "You Probably Shouldn't Move Here", and funny lines throughout the songs. It's a solid album of ska music, and I should have checked out this band a lot earlier. I saw them play their 2003 farewell tour, but I get to see them live for the second time tonight and I'm looking forward to it.

Release Year: 2000
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