Jordan's Wake makes their debut with Lip, an album that took over two years to come together. The quartet consists of four classmates from Eastern Nazarene University: Luke Sheets (Vocals/guitar), Chad Morgan (keyboards), David Scott (bass/vox), and Nate Trimble (drums). Lip has themes of drawing closer to God by removing the superficial, the obstacles, and the events of daily life in order to face God with no encumbrances.
"Speechless" deals with an encounter with God. In the vein of Bush or Radiohead, the lyrics evoke Isaiah 6:5-7:
...and I feel speechless
a fool, incomplete
worth less than worthless
obsolete
and it's all because you'd burn my lips
and it's all because of you.
"Perfect Better" speaks of the potential of something being even greater than one could imagine. Sheets' guitar work here is Edge-like, while his vocals remind the listener of Michael Been's (The Call) solo work. "Saved By the Bell" employs a Peter Gunn guitar riff, and deals with conditioned response. It's either about a psychiatrist or someone trying to hold themselves together, or both -- it's up to the listener to interpret.
"Lisbon Lost" carries on this theme, seemingly portraying a person who thinks they have all of the answers and knowledge, without the necessary understanding of feelings and emotions involved. "Mouthful", a tune about longing that can only be filled by God, is an ethereal, almost ambient song.
Jordan's Wake does a good job of incorporating today's sound with the guitar work of late 80's/early 90's alternative music. The lyrics require investigation, drawing the listener in to figure out their meaning, and causing one to think. This is a quality absent from most of the music being released currently, and is very welcome here.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth February 2002Reviewed by Trae CadenheadMy roommate accuses me of listening to bands no one has ever heard of. While I don't totally agree that he's right, bands like Jordan's Wake make me proud to know the nobodies. However, if people pick up on Jordan's Wake like I have, they probably won't be a nobody band for too long. The style of music that Jordan's Wake cranks out is not the easiest to pinpoint. For some it would be easy to…The Phantom Tollbooth January 2002Reviewed by Dan SingletonJudging by the number of times the word "lip" appears on this album (it leaves its mark on five songs), this is a concept album in tribute to the cephalic membrane of the same name. But Jordan's Wake actually weaves deeper lyrical and sonic themes throughout for a poetic effect and a conceptual experience that lingers in the mind and elicits thought. Almost all of the songs are traditional emo…