Saskatoon Christian Centre

Abandon | Searchlights

7.6/10

http://www.abandonrock.com/

Style: Modern Rock / Brit Rock

Pros: A sound worthy of mainstream attention, but with a great message from front to back.

Cons: Of the 12 tracks here, only 4 are completely new.

Review:

There simply aren’t too many modern rock albums in CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) with blatant Christ-centred messages. That trademark seems to have become reserved for bands that get filed under the ‘modern worship’ category (Leeland, Delirious, Starfield, etc). But Abandon emerges as one notable exception. If you’re a fan of the mod-pop flavours of The Afters and Sanctus Real, this band will probably scratch your itch. There is also an unmistakable punchy Brit-Rock undercurrent electrifying all 12 songs here. The band did put out 2 EP’s within this last year, and 8 of those tracks show up here on their debut full-length, but other than that slight criticism, Searchlights is a  thundering debut effort. Josh Engler (lead vocals) captivates with his distinctive tenor, accompanied by crisp guitars, moody synths, and pounding drums. I prefer the band’s up-tempo songs (like the mega-cool “Providence” or “Hold On”) to their slower, balladesque ventures (like the quiet “Your Love Lifts Me Up”). But the bottom line is that polished, powerful, positive records like this one don’t get released very often.