Picked this one up solely for the cool band name and album title which reminded me of those old kung-fu movies. Later, I found out from their review in Surfing Magazine that the guys in the band are surfers from San Diego, which made me want to like them even more (surfing is my passion). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised but not as impressed as I wanted to be. Throughout the album these guys come close to pulling off some great quirky alternative rock a la Cake or Protein (vocals and music), but they always fall back into generic alternative rock right when they start getting good. For you surfers out there, think of it this way: each Switchfoot song is like a good wave, and although they had good positioning and their takeoff looked solid, they'd either drop in and make one turn before eating it, or pull out at the last second. Too bad. Practice leads to improvement in surfing and music, though, so I'll be looking for their next album.
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Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Bert Gangl / Mark MarusIt is scarcely likely that the fact that the members of the San Diego trio Switchfoot, in addition to being modern rock musicians, have also competed at the national level in surfing and garnered various product endorsements in their sport, is common knowledge. But, while that information seems destined to wind up a trivia question in the year 2010, the band's name, a surfing term for a person…The Lighthouse Unsorted 1998Reviewed by Bert Gangl / Mark MarusIt is interesting that the members of the San Diego trio, Switchfoot, in addition to being musicians, have also competed at the national level and earned various product endorsements in the sport of surfing. Even at first listen, it would appear that the group has chosen a name which closely reflects its approach to music. The term "switchfoot" refers to a person who is able to surf alternately…7ball #13Reviewed by Father MoshSwitchfoot, a power pop trio from the San Diego, Calif., area, are well-scrubbed surfer dudes (two college students; one recent high school graduate), who have been as influenced by New Wave artists like The Police and XTC as current modern rock bands like Sugar, Jellyfish and Everclear. I first listened to The Legend of Chin in a small songwriter's studio, with a nervous label exec waiting for…Similar sounding releases
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