Gospel-Punk Nostalgia: Miss Angie and FIF

Abby and I recently watched Marathon Man, and so, thinking it would be fun to watch another 70s spy movie, I searched for my VHS copy of 3 Days of the Condor, recorded off TV.

I didn't find Condor, but looking through old boxes I was thrilled to find a couple of old CDs.



The first was Miss Angie's 100 Million Eyeballs (pictured above) from 1997. I remembered this album as having a pop-punk sound, and, listening to it again, was surprised at how edgy the music is. I was also surprised at how good the songs are. Especially notable is the title track; drawing on Isaiah 6:1-3 and Revelation 4:6-8, the refrain in the song is simply:

Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
The whole earth is full of Your glory, Your glory
The whole earth is full of Your glory, Your glory

The second CD was Five Iron Frenzy's Upbeats and Beatdowns. This is one of my favorite albums ever. The Punk/SKA movement provided scathing social commentary, and on this CD, FIF often represented the best of this tradition combined with a Christian worldview. One great example of this is the song "Beautiful America" [below I quote the first verse and the chorus]:

The man on the television said I need to drink THIS,
and sleep with THAT, in order to be COOL.
And you know that I would do almost ANYTHING,
to be like that guy on TV.
I know that if I had just the right outfit
and a hairstyle that could be me.
Don't you know you can't be cool if you dress dumb,
I need to have THAT 'cause everybody's got one.
I think I'll start smoking,
that would make me INTELLECTUAL,
that's what I've always wanted to be.
I need to lift weights,
that would make me MORE SEXUAL,
and that would be good FOR ME.

In America it's WONDERFUL,
all you have to do is FAKE IT.
Own anything you want,
all you have to do is TAKE IT.
Live for today, DON'T THINK ABOUT TOMORROW,
have a good time in AMERICA-GOMORRAH.

[The reader will notice that I lost the covers/liner notes for both CDs, which is pretty normal for me.]