By Jacob Sahms of Hollywood Jesus
Family Force 5 is d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t. But I loved every minute of their album, in all of its outlandish funkiness. With a flair for the dramatic, their album Business Up Front, Party In The Back shows off the talents of artists like Soul Glow Activator (Solomon Olds,) Crouton (Jacob Olds,) Fatty (Joshua Olds,) Nadaddy (Nathan Lurrin,) and Chap Stigne (Derek Mount.) And when I say different , I mean that in a these-guys-are-crazy-but-at-least-they’re-not-just-copycats sort of way! After a few listens, I found myself singing along to their crazy stuff, and nonsensical or not, it’s a fun ride.
With “Cadillac Phunque,” they break out their playful, raucous, grungy side, that is their only side, but the different classifications of each adjective vary from song to song. With shout-outs to their hometown Marietta, Ga., Nintendo’s Contra, and Kenny Loggins, the band has a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that some will find silly, but will fit just fine with anyone who digs the phrase “business up front, party in the back” or mullets, for those of you who’ve never caught that before.
The band flaunts their “redneckedness” in “Kountry Gentleman,” raprocking their way through a semi-autobiographical take on their own self-image. With “Drama Queen,” they have more of a serious self-defense against some personal attack they’ve perceived, but they are quick to return to the “fun” stuff.
In “Put UR Hands Up,” Family Force 5 drives a nonsensical dance song along, but reveals more of a “message,” if that’s not a stretch, in their own way in “Love Addict”: “I’m blessed, I must confess/My heart is pounding in my chest/Cause this love’s the best/I’m just a love addict.” For those who question what they mean by “love,” there’s the quick detour through the dancer “Earthquake,” before diving into “Replace Me.”
This hard-rocking song about replacing “me” with “u” screams out “these lungs, they want to breathe/these eyes they want to see/gotta mouth that wants to sing/desperation/needing u/every last breath/I scream for you/shatter me into a million pieces…Make me new.” While a good bit of that could be a love song from one human to another, the last bit, “make me new,” implies a higher power, a creator figure. Here, in this briefest of moments, FF5 reveals their Christian background, hinting in the best Switchfoot-esque way. (Did you like that? I’m always trying to create new words for my own language.)
Dance song, rock song, you get it all through the rest of this thirteen-song jaunt, but again in “Face Down,” the band lets out its background. “Fall down with my face down/giving up me, myself and/a bittersweet taste to swallow my pride now/facedown is where I stay now/if you see me standing up again/knock me down so I can live.” Wow, now that’s devotion! Who asks for discipline? I would argue, only disciples.
www.hollywoodjesus.com