Cool name for a band. Too bad the sound is a corporate head-honcho's dream: a combination of Jars of Clay's pop-folk, dc Talk's bouncy catchiness and vocal energy, Audio Adrenaline's simple lyrics with Newsboys' electronics and beats thrown in. You can just imagine the public relations machine gearing up. Line up your junior high youth groups now, they're gonna love Scarecrow and Tinmen. Maybe.
The album begins on a good note, with a touch of edginess in the singing of the title track's chorus:
I am the Scarecrow and you are the Tinman,
and we are not the same as we were
changed by love and changed by compassion
we now have a new heart and mind.
The lyrics may be trite, but using The Wizard of Oz as inspiration for spiritual allegory had the potential to be interesting. Unfortunately, they only make use of it in one other song, "No Place Like Home"--referring to fellowship among the body of Christ. Most of the time they spend their energy on Hanson-ish choruses like "Hey-yaaaaah," "Yeaah-yeah, yeah-ah," and "I'm just fay ay ay ay ine." Those who dig such pop fluff will probably enjoy the solid melodies and big harmonies that dominate the songs and admittedly, there's actually some uniqueness in the contrasting lower and higher tones in the harmonies.
Most of the songs revolve around the use of organic-sounding vintage synthesizers fused with acoustic guitars, which could have been a cool sound under different circumstances. It's possible that the Elefante brothers as producers killed Scarecrow and Tinmen's creativity and made them into their typical cheese pop rock. For those who aren't too jaded by the overuse of musical, vocal, and lyrical cliches, however, there is some truly sincere, encouraging music to be had.
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