I have to say, when Relient K announced their newest album would be called
"Mmhmm", I was a bit disappointed. Their silly album titles were always fun.
But after hearing Mmhmm, I was happy once again. Although I missed some of
their more silly songs (unlike our reviewer), the disc was undoubtedly their
best. The disc was very artistic and delivered a more varied, poppier sound.
I think it's cool, and you probably will too.

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MMHMM - RELIENT K (2004)
by Ben Forrest

Rolling Stone ran a cover story about Good Charlotte a couple of years ago
asking, in less chaste language, just what on earth had happened to punk
music. A genre that used to be, by definition, anti-establishment,
anti-commercialism, angst-driven and pro-anarchy had somehow produced this,
a band that didn't mind making money, liked seeing their videos on MTV, and
was in heavy rotation on mainstream radio.

The answer, of course, is that pop happened to punk music. And though the
results have been mixed (I could do without Simple Plan and Hawk Nelson),
they have sometimes been heavenly. In some ways punk has never been better.

Exhibit A is the album that marks religious rock giants Relient K's entry
into the mainstream, as well as their passage into musical adulthood. Oddly
titled mmhmm, it was one of the better rock albums of 2004 and proof that
punk's evolution hasn't been entirely unpleasant.

Perhaps what's best about mmhmm is what isn't there. Things like "Maybe It's
Maybeline" and "In Love With the 80's," two semi-amusing but predominantly
corny cuts featured on the band's previous two albums. Or interludes like
"Breakfast at Timpani's," and preachy songs like "What Have You Been Doing
Lately," which detracted from their otherwise stellar The Anatomy of the
Tongue in Cheek.

Instead we get extremely complex tracks like "Be My Escape," mature
ruminations on the consequences of sin like "I So Hate Consequences" and
meditations on personal growth ("Who I am Hates What I've Been," "Let it All
Out") which focus humbly inward instead of rebuking the listener.

Lead singer Matthew Thiessen has clearly come into his own as a songwriter,
going well beyond predictable power chord progressions and over-used guitar
rhythms, adding tasteful orchestral and piano arrangements and injecting
more of his soul—and fewer cheesy jokes—into his lyrics.

Some may chafe at this—perhaps the soul of the old Relient K was those
cheesy jokes—and purists will argue that mmhmm is about as much a punk
record as Good Vibrations was a polka album. Still others will accuse the
band of watering down their lyrics (ie. not mentioning Christ by name) for
this, their first album marketed outside of the Christian circuit. But few
with a knowledge of the band's past can argue that mmhmm represents a
tremendous leap forward in their musical maturity.

Pop has happened to punk, as it has to metal (see Linkin Park), rap (Will
Smith) and just about everything else. Songs have been lengthened from two
minutes or so to a radio-friendly three. It embraces the things it used to
rebel against and rebels against the things it used to stand for. But as
Relient K shows us, that's not such a bad thing.

Read more about Relient K at cMusicWeb.com:
http://cMusicWeb.com/modernrock/relientk


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