etc.

So I lifted my comment moratorium, because writing this was a little boring without feedback. I haven't opened it all the way, though, because I'm not too keen on the return of racist rants and general ignorance.

Anyway, a few months back, while I still worked at the soon-to-be-defunct-evil-empire, I got a copy of Brighten's "King Vs. Queen." This is the kind of band whose internet hype did nothing to whet my appetite, so it wound up in a discarded pile of CDs that I promise I'll get to but never do. Over the weekend, I was digging around my iPod and found that I had already uploaded it, so I gave it a listen.

It was freakin' fantastic.

Removing the fact that their singer sounds like Kenny from the Starting Line, Brighten is a pretty talented band. Their lyrical imagery draws the kind of allusions that I would expect from seasoned veterans. They're also one of the few bands that can walk that razor-thin line of secular Christian bands (Christian bands who play secular music...Joel, anyone want to help me with this?) [1]. If you can get past the one or two songs about J.C. (actually don't do that, because they're actually pretty good), then "King Vs. Queen" could demolish any random Hot Topic band.

[1] See: Mute Math, Underoath, Switchfoot, etc.