Switchfoot continued

Switchfoot continued

Ok, Derek and Bucy are gone so here goes...

As I was saying, I heard the :30 clips online before the record came out. Admittedly there are probably more reasons than just the good music why Learning to Breathe was so important to me. That album came out in a very good time in my life.

The faint opening sounds of "Dare You to Move" before the guitar strains actually kick in are a stroke of genious in my mind. That album was essentially the soundtrack to the Fall semester of my senior year of college. Songs like "Innocence Again" and "Playing for Keeps" didn't necessarily have mass appeal in my opinion. And for that I enjoyed them all the more.

But "Dare You to Move" quickly became one of my favorite songs of all time. Little did I know that the song would have like nine lives. Over a year later...after I had graduated and moved to Nashville, the song was littered all over the trailers for the Mandy Moore Film. I remember rediscovering the value of that piece all over again. And while I never saw the movie, I was greatly pleased at the exposure that Switchfoot got on account of Ms. Moore.

The first song I heard off of The Beautiful Letdown was "Ammunition." I didn't like it. Let me clarify. Relatively speaking I didn't like it. It didn't feel like good Switchfoot to me. But in comparison to most other music I heard at that time, sure it was great. I still bought the album the day it came out. I can't fathom a better album for spring weather from start to finish. The week following my purchase of The Beautiful Letdown brought the first nice weather in Tennessee that year. I remember driving around the city all during the months of March and April with that CD turned way up.

And again with the "Dare You to Move." I was mildly annoyed at the appearance of the near carbon copy of a song from the previous album. But instead of growing weary of hearing it, I again rediscovered a whole new depth to my connection with the song.

But that aside, I was genuinely excited about some of the stuff on this album. To me, the title track defies music. Sure it's a piece of music. But something happens in that track. It's more of an event than a song. And I felt that "On Fire" and "24" could not have been handled any better by band or producer.

And then the ninth life of "Dare You to Move"...it's release to radio. By this time, it would seem that if I was going to grow tired of it, I would already have. Wrong. The song got burnt out on seemingly every format across the dial. If I thought its initial three incarnations were overkill, this was unreal. But the funny thing was, I still wanted to hear it every single time it came on.

And I still do. I have never ever turned the song off in my life. Sure part of me hates that it became so trendy. But screw that. That songs still takes me places. Those initial guitar strains of which I wrote earlier still transport me to a chilli Fall evening in Anderson, Indiana when I was discovering a ton of things about myself and my world.

So here we are again. Number five on its way. I've heard "Stars" off the upcoming disc. Not great. Reminds me a lot of "Ammunition" to be honest. Switchfoot was such a nice-kept secret for four albums. Now people are waiting. That's never happened before.

Even I have always approached a new Switchfoot with minimal expectations. They've always been off-the-wall enough that I am just able to embrace everything they have done. I've never though Jon was a great singer. I do love the way his voice fits their music. But I never thought he had the kind of delivery that would be widely embraced. And I kinda liked that about them. They were the slighly-uncool band of surfers with floppy combovers who smiled in their promo pics.

I think we all want success for those about whom we care, and then regret it a little when it happens. I guess I'm not afraid of Switchfoot failing necessarily...but if this album is not a hit, I do want it to be because people couldn't identify with Switchfoot's unconventional ways and not because the guys were trying too hard this time.

Here's holding my breath...