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A Best Fourth Release Honorable Mention in the 2009 Awards

Showbread’s fourth release, of course, features a change of genre once again. Also, this time they dialed down the metaphor just a bit in favor of some more-straightforward lyrics.

Opener “I’m Lost” begins with a humorous sound test (including a recitation of the band’s famous catchphrase ); then the music kicks in for a fairly epic short intro that flows into the next track without a pause.

“Nothing Matters Anymore” is musically and vocally dynamic, has fantastic lyrics, and is all-around quite powerful (especially towards the end)— in fact, it’s the kind of track you could envision as a closer. (Trust Showbread to do the unexpected and start their album with it. ) It’s excellent.

“Lost Connection With The Head” features bouncy music and vocal delivery in the verses and a totally rocking chorus, making the whole track quite catchy.

We’re not sure if “Regret Consumes Me” is lyrically about a former bandmember or friend of theirs, or if it’s just projecting; either way, it’s another great track (this one with a chorus that’s quite heavy).

“Out Of My Mind” is an upbeat love song with a chorus that features both a new style and an excellent fast percussion/drum line, which are (again) very catchy. There’s a great guitar solo near the end, too.

“Vehement” has an excellently addicting jazzy feel at times, and a very memorable chorus.

“The Great Emasculation” explains that self-sacrifice can sometimes be misunderstood and instead turned into self-deprecation (as put in the song, “licking boots instead of washing feet”), and it shouldn’t. This track’s vocals are mostly shouted or screamed.

“Shepherd, No Sheep” is, musically, quite different-sounding (though of course still excellent ). Lyrically, it’s a resignedly sarcastic song written to self-important critics who just nitpick their (and others’) work— particularly its musical elements— without truly understanding the art or the intent.

“Let There Be Raw”, in complement to the previous track, lyrically declares what Showbread is about. Musically, it picks the pace back up, and there’s another excellent high-speed guitar run near the end.

“I Think I’m Going To See You” has a very Punk Rock feel to both its music and its pointedly true lyrics. It also features yet another excellent guitar solo.

First-album-style “Precursor” is rapid and mostly screamed, shouted, or spoken until the final verse, where the music and vocal delivery change completely.

Title track “The Fear Of God” goes through the story of someone who is despairingly crying out against both their own failures and the darkness and evils in the world (including a long, unpleasantly detailed, and increasingly emotional description of a number of those evils— hence our Content Advisory). Finally overwhelmed, they give up everything to God, and receive strength, comfort, peace, and hope.

Finally, “Until We Meet Again” is musically muted and acoustic, and is lyrically a heartfelt message to a departed friend.

In all (minus the one section of its title track ), The Fear Of God is another great album from Showbread.

Our rating for The Fear Of God: 5 & 1/4 Stars.

For Showbread’s third release, they did something quite different: They created two concept albums in the form of a story (which can be read in the liner notes), with the actual music as its ‘soundtrack’. In fact, they specifically asked the fans to buy the physical, instead of digital, copies because the digital ones don’t come with any liner notes, which are literally half the story. And though there are separate lyrics in the songs, the notes don’t contain any of them (for lyrics you must go to the release site)— instead, the booklets focus only on the story, which includes a lot of metaphor; quotes/pictures/other story elements strewn along the margins of the pages; and (actually beautiful) hidden messages woven throughout (in four different codes!).

The tale follows two sisters, Anorexia and Nervosa, who believe that they can fulfill themselves (Anorexia by doing superficial good deeds— superficial because, deep down, she’s doing it for recognition, so it’s really out of pride more than anything else— and Nervosa by exploring immorality). However, when both of them pause to look back on what they’ve done, they realize how empty they really are… and there, at their lowest moments, they find what (and who) can heal them and make them truly whole.

As you might guess, this double release is more intense overall than their previous work— and, in Nervosa, it tackles some very heavy subject matter head-on. (Nervosa gets herself into some awful things; hence the Content Advisory and its rating. Still, as unpleasant and sad as her story is, it does have a beautiful finale. Obviously, that particular album was written for people who have gone through equally serious stuff.)

Musically, Anorexia Nervosa moves to Hardcore with an Experimental touch (and the vocals placed somewhat in the background); and though there are some familiar synths and guitar tones, it now has much more variety in both instruments and melodies, and it’s also much heavier and harder-hitting. Vocally, all of the bandmembers make appearances, and featured guests include former Showbread member Tae “Ivory” Mobley, Reese Roper (formerly of FIF), Amy Roper, Jeff Fortson, Solomon “Soul Glow Activatur” Olds of Family Force 5, and Lori Gerlach.

In all, Anorexia Nervosa is not for casual music listeners, or for those seeking albums of songs; taking place on both paper and disc, this double release forms one intense story that journeys through deep darkness to the light. Consider yourself warned.

Our rating for Anorexia: 5 Stars.
Our rating for Nervosa: 4 & 3/4 Stars.

BEST SECOND RELEASE 2006 Award Winner!

Runners-Up: Hawk Nelson (Smile, It’s The End Of The World),
Sarah Kelly (Where The Past Meets Today).

As mentioned in their live show review, with the release of Showbread’s highly anticipated second album Age Of Reptiles they have taken their “Raw Rock” to a very new place. Lyrically: This is the area of least change, because as expected, Josh’s great lyrics are as visual and artistic as ever. This time, though, his metaphors weave in a lot of reptilian (and occasional insect) themes. Vocally: The biggest change occurs here. On their first, (True) Screamo album, singing— although Josh can sing quite well— was really almost used for emphasis among the other types of vocal. On this new, Hard-Edged Rock album, it’s actually the other way around— mostly singing, with occasional first-album-type vocals for emphasis. Also, while Ivory still plays an obvious role, you hear much more of Josh. Musically: While most of the songs have at least a somewhat familiar musical feel to them, the band has also expanded their range in this area as well.

And they somehow do all of this while still sounding unmistakeably Showbread.

To say this is a fairly amazing release is to state the obvious.

Age Of Reptiles begins with “Naked Lunch”. This track lyrically rebukes hypocrites by pointing out that people who condemn others’ actions should not be doing the same sort of things themselves. Musically, it’s a good rocker; vocally, it contains some familiar-feeling trade-offs between Josh and Ivory, and there’s even a well-placed background scream near the end.

“Pachycephalosaurus” lyrically rebukes self-centered people who think that the world revolves around them. Musically it’s somewhat familiar-feeling; interestingly, the keytar takes lead for much of the song, backed by solid rock. Ivory even does some background yelling/screaming.

“Your Owls Are Hooting” is the first of three love songs in a row. (Don’t be fooled, though— these love songs are done in Showbread style! ) This track is musically the most different from anything else they’ve done before, featuring several drummers, a dark, heavy beat, and a guitar/keytar combination that is just plain cool.

“Oh! Emetophobia!” follows, an exuberant, wildly catchy, and totally rockin’ track that makes you feel great each time you listen to it.

“Sing Me To Sleep” is the sweet, classic ballad of the three. It’s surprisingly beautiful, even moving at times, and still rocks. With its medium pace, great vocals, and unexpected harmonies, “Sing Me To Sleep” is definitely one of the album’s best (and most memorable) tracks, one you’ll probably find yourself humming later.

“George Romero Will Be At Our Wedding” continues Josh’s tradition of utilizing the premise of a horror movie/series to form one song on the album (like “Dead By Dawn” on their first). Because of that and Josh’s naturally-visual writing style, some of the lyrics in “George Romero…” take a little getting used to; but the band takes the end result (forgiveness, true love overcoming death, and etc.) and focuses on that. Musically this track is faster-paced, and it’s somewhat suspenseful, except in the chorus and bridge sections which have great, unique harmonies and an almost indescribable sound that works very well.

“The Jesus Lizard” (its title referring both to the actual nickname of a real reptile and also to the metaphors contained within the song) is musically familiar-yet-upgraded. There’s an excellent, powerful guitar riff near the end, too.

“Centipede Sisters” is probably the most musically familiar-feeling— it’s quite fast-paced, has a lot of vocal ’emphasis’, there are some trade-offs between Josh and Ivory, and towards the end there are several short tempo shifts during some keytar/guitar riffs.

“Dinosaur Bones” is another catchy, fairly familiar-feeling song. It’s slow-building, has a punk beat and a bouncy, rhythmic keytar line, and after a good long guitar riff and chorus near the end the music fades off to the bandmembers clapping and singing alone. This song is yet another of the album’s best.

And the final track “Age Of Reptiles”, as Josh once said in an online journal entry, lyrically ‘…congregates the theme of the album into one focused point’. It’s actually the longest track they’ve done so far, but because of its several style changes and just being so good, it seems far shorter than it is. For more than half its length, the song slowly and excellently builds to a climax where we see a true and powerful return of their first-CD vocals, with equally powerful, almost theatrical music underneath. After a nice drawn-out section of this, everything suddenly stops… and, a few seconds of near silence later, fades into a subsection of the song called “Age Of Insects” for an absolutely beautiful closing few minutes. This whole track is not only hands-down the best one on this CD, it’s also Showbread’s all-time best track to date, period.

This is an excellent album, one of the best we’ve heard, and it’s definitely worthy of Best Second Release.

Our rating for Age Of Reptiles: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

A Best First Release Nominee in the 2005 Awards

An interesting element of this album is that several songs flow right into one another and there are segues in between most of the others. Also, for this CD, the two vocalists’ roles are as follows: Tae (commonly known as Ivory) Mobley basically screams and speaks, and frontman Josh Dies screams, yells, speaks, and— believe it or not— also sings, and very well, at that. The bandmembers are all talented musicians, allowing them to create really great music and some surprising style transitions within songs. And, of course, there are Josh’s amazing lyrics. All of this blends to form a (True) Screamo album that is actually truly musical, as well.

No Sir…‘s first track, in typical Showbread fashion, is entitled “A Llama Eats A Giraffe (And Vice Versa)”. And if the title wasn’t interesting enough for you, the track itself begins with a muted phone call. About 23 seconds into this, the real song suddenly kicks in loud and without warning, and from there the musical pace doesn’t slow down for a moment. Lyrically, it firmly declares the truth that nothing here lasts forever. This track is one of the screamiest on the disc, but it’s a good opener because it shows how they can layer catchy music underneath hardcore vocals.

Immediately following that is a segue, eliminating any pause between the first and second tracks. This particular one is short, featuring just background drums and percussion, and at the end the sound of a chainsaw.

Fan favorite “Dead By Dawn” follows, a track with great music. Lyrically it is quite complex— Josh really cranks up the metaphor by using the premise of a horror movie series along with other metaphorical elements to craft a song that can have a variety of meanings, depending on the listener.

Second fan favorite “Mouth Like A Magazine” is next. This song contains fairly catchy music (especially the bass and guitars) and deftly features all four types of vocal.

“If You Like Me Check Yes, If You Don’t I’ll Die” seems to describe either a false relationship or the myriad of thoughts, questions, concerns, and insecurities that can sometimes accompany any relationship. It’s definitely the screamiest track of the album (i.e. almost nothing else); there is some great music behind that, though, especially during the chorus. Towards the end of the song the music changes to a cool rock tune, then it switches to a fast punk beat, and then back to its original style.

“Sampsa Meets Kafka” is a short, strange, sound-effect track with only one lyric line that is totally screamed (and heavily distorted— a bit over the top ).

“So Selfish It’s Funny” is another fan fave. As you can guess, this song rebukes selfishness; and it’s very catchy all around. It starts off energetic with the first three vocal types, then the music switches to a slower beat and the vocals to singing, then it slows down even more… and the singing/background screaming in this last section is very catchy as well. There is no pause between this track and the next.

“The Missing Wife” is one of only two songs on the album that contain no screaming at all. This particular one features muted vocals, and the only two instruments used are an also-muted acoustic guitar (played by Josh) and background sound effects provided by producer Sylvia Massy Shivy’s theremin. As for the lyrics, we’re not sure if this is an actual tribute to someone who really died or if it’s just a “what-if” generic tribute; but either way, it’s a nice breather before the rest of the album continues.

Next is a segue, an intriguing one that you have to use your imagination on; and it’s very suspenseful.

“Welcome To Plainfield Tobe Hooper” immediately gets back the energy with the typical vocal mix, a punk beat, and absolutely great guitars. It then flows right into the next track without pause.

“And The Smokers & Children Shall Be Cast Down” is a good example of the style changes that Showbread can make during a song. It starts off with cool, echoing, and almost creepy singing; then a few seconds of suspense-building music; and then back to the usual vocal mix. The music then speeds up for a while; then the beat slows a little but the vocal energy continually increases; then, there are a few moments of grace with awesome, beautiful lyrics and singing; and then it goes back to the regular mix to finish off the track. And this song’s lyrics cover almost as much ground, as well!

Another segue follows; the best explanation of which can be summed up in what they call it: “Insect Apocalypse”.

“Stabbing Art To Death” (featuring Reese Roper of Five Iron Frenzy) is another fan fave and another good style-changing example. In fact, it’s amazing how many changes this song goes through, and how smooth and natural those changes are. It begins with the regular vocal mix and a punk beat, and after a while it switches to singing and full punk (!). It switches back, and then it switches to a nearly indescribable, really cool rock tune with awesome guitars/etc. And again, the lyrics also cover a lot of ground.

“The Dissonance Of Discontent”‘s opening sound is similar to the other tracks (vocal mix, cool guitars); but towards the end it drifts into almost creepy vocals and an organ. After the singing stops, the organ continues on, the sounds of a thunderstorm also being mixed in; and then it all slowly fades away.

“Matthias Replaces Judas” (again featuring Reese Roper) is yet another fan fave. It’s the second of the two songs on this album that contain no screaming, and (as you probably expect by now ) it’s actually very different than the other one. This song is medium-paced and uses all of the band’s instruments, has great vocals, and is catchy all around. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful, as well; and guest Reese Roper sings the entire last half, getting more and more intense as the song’s end draws near.

After this there is one last segue, featuring the sounds of an orchestra tuning up.

And the final track is “The Bell Jar”, a song with a really cool drumbeat, great guitars that become even better at the end, and lyrics stating that eventually, “…everything is dying, and we want something more”. And as the first track opened with a phone call, this track closes perfectly with a phone-off-the-hook tone.

This is a great first release, and we can’t wait to hear where Showbread takes their “Raw Rock” next!

Our rating for No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical: 5 & 1/4 Stars.