Reviewed by Tony Cummings

With Adrian Plass the church at last has found some­one prepared to prick the bubble of religous pomposity and some of the sillier duller social moves that we've adopted in evangelism. But what about a subject closer to the hearts of Cross Rhythms readers -music? At last someone has stepped forward to point the finger at Christian music which is less 'music to free the spirit' than 'music to demonstrate appalling taste and theological naivety'. Last year Marc Catley, an acoustic Birmingham born Bury based (how's that for an alliteration!) singer/songwriter released 'Peels Of Hope' and it was a devastating attack on the banality of the lyrics and thinking behind some modem praise and worship. Now he returns to the subject with more spot-on lashes at worship-by-numbers and also strikes out at inept church hall rock gospel bands and, most daring of all, a wickedly funny "Deck Of Cards" where an impudent choir boy bluffs his way out of a tight cor­ner when being caught with a porno book ("When I look at all those naked bodies I remember that God became flesh"). As with 'Peel Of Hope', the biggest problem to bar constant listening to 'Make The Tea' is that it's painful to listen to appallingly played music, even when it's apallingly played on purpose and is making important points to sections of the church tragi­cally addicted to artistic mediocrity

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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