Reviewed by Tony Cummings

BEC Recordings is the shop window label of Seattle's amazing Tooth & Nail/Solid State who over the last few years have poured out torrents of albums to finally convince corporate America, and more importantly tens of thousands of teenage believers, that Christian music doesn't begin and end in Nashville. As this release shows, Ebel's company has now diversified to such an extent that alongside the punk, alternative rock and hardcore bands on which it built its following, the company has now been able to diversify to take in a broader range of youth culture styles. So alongside the raucous sounds of punk rawk, you've also got '60s sounding electro pop (Joy Electric), dance (Germany's Ultrabeat), ska (OC Supertones), hip hop (MG! The Visionary and III Harmonics - have you caught their "Rock The Casbah' heavily featured on Cross Rhythms radio yet?) and, most unexpectedly of all, cod disco (The Company). A particular standout here was Plankeye's mid tempo rocker "The Meaning Of It AN" while the UK's small band of Tooth & Nail devotees might be tempted to investigate this recent release sampler by the inclusion of a couple of previously unreleased Hangnail tracks.

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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