This sweeping and engaging debut from Denver-based Christian rockers
Foolish Things attempts to bridge the gap, at least sonically, between secular and non-secular audiences with mixed results. Musically, the band shows an obvious allegiance to
U2 and
Coldplay, but they've got copies of
Green Day,
Switchfoot, and
Jimmy Eat World albums as well, displaying an amiable post-emo penchant for hard riffs with elegiac choruses that dutifully fill imaginary stadiums in the listener's head.
Foolish Things may be aiming to create a comfortable milieu for secularists on a melodic level, but they stumble from a lyrical standpoint. While teenage breakups ("Capital P") and brooding self-actualization ("First Lie") are staples of any twenty-something's diet, lyrics like "feel the love shine down/falling in the arms of our savior now" and "Lord of power beyond compare" -- the latter, if taken out of context, could easily be a
Black Sabbath chorus -- are far too typical of CCM's insular nomenclature to engage anyone outside of the brethren.
Let's Not Forget the Story definitely has some commercial appeal, but beneath the hard candy shell of MTV confection and studio complexity there is a dull and wholly predictable nougat center. ~ James Christopher Monger