Common Children
Arkansas8 reviews across 3 releases
Common Children was a Christian alternative rock band formed in Arkansas in 1995 and signed to Tattoo Records. Its debut drew on grunge and melodic hard rock, with Marc Byrd's strained vocals and songs such as "Hate" giving the music a confrontational edge. By Delicate Fade, the band had moved toward a quieter, more artful sound: cello and violin, arpeggiated guitars, and long passages of mood replaced much of the earlier attack, though "Burn" and "Pulse" retained it. Byrd's writing centered on anguish, healing, faith, and self-examination, including the unusually direct "Eyes of God." The Inbetween Time continued the shift in 2001, using denser guitar effects and atmospheric soundscapes while preserving the band's capacity for heavy rock.
Andrew Thompson joined Common Children on tour and later worked with Byrd on The Inbetween Time, which became the band's final album. Common Children broke up in 2002. Byrd and Thompson continued recording together, forming the ambient duo Hammock in Nashville; their first album, Kenotic, appeared in 2005. Byrd also continued working with Christine Glass, whose backing vocals and songwriting had connected her to Common Children during the Delicate Fade period. Thompson and Byrd's later music moved further from the earlier band's post-grunge attack, developing the delayed guitars and spacious textures already heard on The Inbetween Time.
3 releases reviewed
The Inbetween Time