Reviewed by Oscar Hyde

Christian rock rarely ventured into the post-punk and New Wave movements; what Christian rock there was at the time stuck to either classic rock or hair metal. The New York duo Labor of Love were one of the few bands to try to build a bridge; Message to the Bands, from 1983, may have been their most popular album. Now, Message to the Bands isn't the glossily-sheened sort of album perfected by DEVO, and I'd find it difficult to classify the album as New Wave; the production values really aren't high enough. On the other hand, I'd call it garage post-punk, but it's a great deal more upbeat and positive than most post-punk of the era. Not that this amphibious genre classification is a bad thing, by any means! There's joyous enthusiasm behind the music, even if the energy's obscured by the intensely lo-fi quality and almost inaudible rhythm section. The lyrics (when decipherable) are bold and almost comically earnest (there's a song entitled "I Don't Do That Anymore"), and set to ridiculously catchy tunes; "Dancin'" is almost worthy of the Exploding Hearts. The lo-fi aesthetic is even more noticeable on the final four tracks, demo versions of album tracks, featuring much more pronounced and punchy percussion, and (I think) even better than the album versions.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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