Review

Thousand Foot Krutch releases a new kind of record. In their debut album, Set It Off, TFK was an all too familiar rap/rock band blending into the outburst of artists who were claiming they had invented the genre while other bands had been doing it for years. To get the full scoop on the new TFK and their new album, Phenomenon, we sat down with lead singer Trevor McNevan after performing in the Festival Con Dios venue in Grand Rapids, MI on September 19, 2003.

In the process of creating two albums over the course of only six years, Thousand Foot Krutch has improved their musical maturity from a garage band performing at proms to a future headliner. The Canadian trio (touring with a new guitarist they hope to sign shortly) had a much different sound on Set It Off but McNevan decided to change their style because, “we had been doing the hip-hop rock thing technically before it was cool,” and now most artists taking stake in the genre are, “just doing it ‘cause of the trend and they couldn’t even rhyme.” McNevan went on to explain the reason for the change to a powerful rock album with a hint of hip-hop lyrics by saying, “We just wanted to break it and start over.” The band has done exactly that with their sophomore album. Phenomenon is a mature, emotional, “rock and roll record.”

The title track, 'Phenomenon,' kicks of the new album with an upbeat rock track with fast paced lyrics declaring, “Just let yourself go, let everyone know, move to this Phenomenon.” It starts the record off with a bang getting the attentive listener hooked on the record by keeping them wondering, ‘So what’s the phenomenon?’

Unfortunately 'Phenomenon' is followed up by 'This Is a Call,' a slow spaced nontraditional yet deep Thousand Foot Krutch ballad. “That’s the only song on the record that’s so much of a ballad,” admits McNevan. Although the song is beautiful in nature, it disturbs the flow of the album. Phenomenon picks up again starting with ‘Quicken,’ a party song that makes the listener want to get up and jump around but if one listens to the lyrics it describes the pain of preaching the message with a passion but no one gets it. The party sound unmistakably continues on through tracks four and five with ‘Bounce’ and ‘Rawk Fist.’

Although the entire record maintains the dominant rock sound (with the exception of ‘This Is a Call’) many songs have “a little below the surface” message. For example, ‘Last Words’ is about, “someone who has committed suicide and they have one chance to come back and say goodbye to everyone they love.”

Overall Phenomenon comes across as a strong, confident record with commanding lyrics and although the message is a bit obscure compared to many Christian music artists it’s still there and shows conviction in McNevan’s improving song writing abilities.

Review by Rob Todd

4 out of 5