My 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 quickly jump in and call the music on Lip emo. I don't really know that I would agree with slapping it with that kind of moniker. The first song "Speechless" made me think I had gotten a rock album. However, as the album progressed, I realized that such a broad moniker as rock wouldn't quite get a handle on these guys either. The music of Jordan's Wake normally ranges somewhere from atmospheric rock to mellow indie rock, but with a few exceptions. At some points bands such as Common Children, Starflyer 59, or the early Denison Marrs came to mind, only to fade away just as fast. That said, this is very good music that works to make a niche for itself.
Better yet are the lyrics. It's so nice to see a Christian band with lyrics that don't seem like clichés or mindless babblings. Some of the songs seem to be written directly to God ("Speechless" and "Under Blue"), but the majority paint a picturesque landscape through either poetry or storytelling. "Lisbon Lost" seems to be the best penned song, and possibly the best song period, conjuring up comparisons to Ecclesiastes with its lament on knowledge. The song is incredibly poignant in the way that it addresses the issue of post-modernity's challenge of modernity as well: "He said, "how could I be wrong?" He said, "I have multiple degrees. If you'd listen I could tell you what you feel. I'd just give a diagnosis that would set the minds at ease. If you'd listen child, I'd show you what is real. All for knowledge to live with. She said, "listen to me doctor, I'll explain it on my wrist. You have obviously never been thirteen. Listen to me doctor, there's a piece you must have missed. There's a part of all this you must not have seen. AWFUL KNOWLEDGE TO LIVE WITH. And all the rest is silence and regret, he said. An awful knowledge to beget a woe. All the rest is knowledge to regret. An awful knowledge to forget. He said, "How could I be wrong?" These are the kind of brush strokes that Jordan's Wake uses to paint on the canvas of Lip. If they can keep up this kind of artistry, Jordan's Wake should become a household name among the indie rock crowd.
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Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth February 2002Reviewed by Brian A. SmithJordan'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…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…