The Choir

Item: Flap Your Wings
Author: Michial Farmer

Flap Your Wings

(2000)

Reviewed by Michial Farmer

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Label Galaxy 21 MusicThe Phantom Tollbooth2000

alternative rock dream pop shoegaze

Choir fans have been salivating nearly four years now for a new album from their favorite band. After the Dove Award-winning, atmospheric masterpiece Free Flying Soul, Steve Hindalong, Derri Daugherty, and Dan Michaels seemed to retreat back into the shadows, appearing only when playing on/producing other artists' records. Their hibernation officially ended on July 4, 2000 at Cornerstone when the band released their eighth full-length studio album, Flap Your Wings.

The Free Flying Soul comparisons will begin right away from the chorus-pedaled, ring modulator favoured title track, which opens the album. Continuing chief lyricist Hindalong's apparent fascination with birds and flight, lead singer/guitarist Daugherty sings quietly:

When you find yourself lying
In a ditch on the side of the road
You might get ready
You might get ready to die
When the sun comes up over the mountain
Flap your wings and fly

These words (sort of) repeat on the album's tribute to the late Gene Eugene, "Hey Gene":

Now I feel the gravel under my feet
I suppose you're walkin' down golden streets
Everybody always forgave you
A child of mystery
And I remember you were merciful to me
Hey Gene
Flap your wings

In addition to the expected twisted love songs ("Cherry Bomb," written about the Hindalong/Daugherty tribe of children), there's also a fair amount of the other type of song The Choir is known for: worship songs. From the acoustic "Mercy Lives Here" to the album-closing remake of the At the Foot of the Cross classic "Beautiful Scandalous Night," Flap Your Wings is bathed in worship. Hindalong and Daugherty (who publishes his first lyric in over 15 years here with "Mercy Lives Here") avoid the cheesiness and banality typical of modern worship, and aim at the brain as much as the heart:

Comes a time on the journey
You wonder how you will survive
Comes a time when you're thirsty and so alone
You think you might die
There is a pool in the desert where water flows from fountains unseen
(From "Flowing Over Me")

Musically, Flap Your Wings treads much of the same atmospheric territory its predecessor did, with perhaps a bit more of a Radiohead influence than was evident before (especially on the title track). Also included are a couple of full-out rockers. "Shiny Floor" almost reaches sheer hilarity in its metaphors ("I'll try to be agile like a Saskatoon lynx"), and "I Don't Mean Any Harm" has the catchiest one-line chorus since L.S.U.'s "The Bomb." There are a few missteps, though: I find it hard to concentrate during "Flowing Over Me" due to a monotonous drum machine in the background. "A Moment in Time" is more sappy than anything Hindalong has ever penned (the entire Wide Eyed Wonder album included!), and "Beautiful Scandalous Night" never quite reaches the magnitude of the original.

Despite these flaws, Flap Your Wings is an immediate contender for best album of 2000, and definitely worth your twelve bucks. Point your browser over to www.thechoir.net and order your copy today!

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