Revisiting your past can have one of two outcomes. Either you take a wonderful trip down memory lane, relishing where you came from, your roots still deeply connected to your present state of being. The other outcome is looking in that review mirror, remembering the stale taste of coffee from the diner in the past one-light town you visited, wanting to look forward to something new and unexpected. All this said, 441's place in the 80's "Christian" alternative rock history is more of a sidekick to some of the better known Cali bands from that era, namely Undercover, the Altar Boys, DA, and the Choir. I'm leaning towards the one-light town, in case you're wondering.
Their vocals ever distinctive, 441 was more of a pop-infused college alternative band with that 80's new wave synth sound thrown in for good measure. Looking back, they were sort of a secondary band for me. I owned their stuff as a poor college student on cassette from the demo bin. Broken Records was the sort of fall out label borne as Maranatha Records castaways. Sorry to any of the historians for my triteness to its' significance, but outside of the Southern Cal region, the rest of the country got only glimpses of the importance of some of these bands. Most of this was due to poor marketing to Christian bookstores, where unless the owners were plugged into the scene, they didn't realize what was unfolding historically or just saw these new labels with skepticism from a selling point.
With 8 of the 11 tracks coming from a Broken Reunion show done in 2005, the vibe is solid from not missing a beat. The live mix isn't bad either for an indie disc. There's three newer unreleased songs at the tail of the disc. Style-wise, this disc takes me back to the 80's, but I'm afraid it's going to collect dust. 441 has relived the 80's, but it's like watching The Breakfast Club. Great movie, but dated music.
6.5 of 10 clicks
thecannyshark
February 2011
thecannyshark
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