Album Review: Showbread - Who Can Know It

When it comes to Christian music, people usually love it or hate it. There are a lot of Christian bands that beat around the metaphorical bush when it comes to mentioning their views in their lyrics, and for better or for worse, Showbread is not one of those bands.

Showbread is a self proclaimed “raw rock” Christian band that puts Christian ideals and lyrics in your face, and it’s not necessarily always to their merit. Opener ‘A Man With A Hammer’ is a terrible song lyrically, talking about murder, abortion, rape, and everything in between. It then caps things off by saying that it’s cool, because Jesus has taken care of it. Maybe I’m just a cynic, but that doesn’t seem like a great way to get the energy up to start off an album.

Musically, “raw rock” really isn’t anything more than alt-rock’s weird cousin, with a little bit of keys mixed in for good measure. That being said, the music is pretty uninspired. Most of the songs sound very similar, and vocalist Josh Dies sings the same notes for the entire album. This can be showcased in ‘Dear Music’, when the band takes listeners on a full 2 minute round of “He is Wonderful”. The vocals really aren’t bad per se, they just need a little more punch. The only really interesting track of the first two thirds of the record is the slightly rocking ‘Myth Of A Christian Nation’, and it’s inarguably the best track on the record.

The last third of the album fares better than the first two, with ‘Myth Of A Christian Nation’, ‘Like A Taxi’, and ‘Time To Go’. ‘Taxi’ is another very listenable track, being more dynamic, not so monotone, and having keys that pull everything together into a pretty decent package. This track is followed by ‘Time To Go’, a piano laden track that makes Showbread sound like they believe what they’re saying. So “Who Can Know It” isn’t all gruesome murders and other horrible acts.

To their merit, Showbread is giving 'Who Can Know It' away through Come and Live! This is a very generous move by the band, and should be appreciated by fans. That generosity can’t make up for a record that is at times simultaneously boring and annoying. The record should appease fans of the band, but other listeners may want to look elsewhere for a new music fix.

1.5/5

'Who Can Know It' by Showbread is available now through Come And Live!

Showbread on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

Landon Peterson