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Geniuses of (Christian) Rock

So I was listening to one of my favorite WFMU DJs the other night, Dave the Spazz, and was surprised when he invited a Christian punk rock band to play live on his show. Dave usually plays 60s r&b, soul, country and punk, and so it wasn't much of a stretch, particularly considering the band was playing Maxwell's that night and did indeed rock. They also had a delightfully goofy sense of humor. Their album is titled My God Is Alive! Sorry About Yours!; a song about Catholics' gambling is "Father Bingo."

I found the lead singer's earnestness and conviction appealing, at least at first, as he expressed his love of punk rock and complained about the "Christ industry" and phony Christian bands...the more they kept bantering and playing, though, the more troubling it all seemed. Imagine the worst of the Maximum RNR crowd, but spouting religious dogma instead of politics. One song calls for theocracy, another denies evolution. And meditation and martial arts are denounced as "demonic."

If you don't believe me, you can listen here yourself. In fact, I'd recommend doing that before you read on....

Okay. Later that night I ran into a friend of mine from WFMU and told him about the show. (I'd be talking to several friends about it, actually, because I found the whole thing so strange.) He listened and then let me in on a secret: None of the band members are Christians. He knows the lead singer. The act is a put-on.

Suddenly, the lead singer's assertion that "it takes more than Christians to make a Christian band" took on a whole new light.

Now, this isn't a very closely held secret, but many people who see the Knights* play have no idea. The Knights are often the only "Christian" band on a bill. And according to my friend, they're often the target of the audience's hostility, before they even begin to play.

Whether the band is parodying Christian punk rock or punk rock itself is an open question, but the singer is so convincing when he talks about Jesus (I say this as a former Christian) I think it's brilliant.

I hope someone is filming their shows, which are reportedly carnivalesque. They'd make a great subject for a documentary.

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* The band is called K n i g h t s  of the New C r u s a d e but I've avoided naming them here so this post doesn't show up on search engines (don't want to spoil it for anyone).