The Juliana Theory

Item: Emotion Is Dead
Author: David Martin

Emotion Is Dead

(2000)

Reviewed by David Martin

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Label Tooth & Nail RecordsThe Rebel Base2001

alternative rock emo indie rock power pop

Every now and then, I get the pleasure of discovering a wonderfully talented new band. A band whose music transcends the genre with which their albums are often tagged. A band whose lyrics - and even song titles - are at once intriguingly oblique and remarkably easy to relate to. A band who doesn't quite seem to fit into a niche, and receives misguided criticism from several sides, but lasting admiration from a lucky few.

Perhaps "discovering" isn't the right word. I've been hearing buzz about The Juliana Theory for a few years now - though not all of it has been positive. For starters, they're generally considered to be an "emo" band - emo being a lesser-known style that splits the difference between punk, pop, and hardcore. This generally amounts to less screaming than found in hardcore music, more rigid and slow tempos than found in punk and dirtier, grungier production than found in pop. So the genre isn't a sure fire winner with the kids or the adults to begin with. As is probably obvious due to its name, emo is known for having bands that wear their hearts on their sleeves. Emo bands can wax philosophical, or they can degenerate into dissonant soap operas. But they tend to be more emotionally complex than the generally angry, depressed, or insipidly happy music that dominates the charts.

The Juliana Theory's debut, Understand This Is a Dream, debuted in 1999 to mixed reviews. I still haven't heard anything from it other than the superb anti-celebrity anthem "Musicbox Superhero". Apparently, most fans of Christian music decided that the band didn't have a clear spiritual agenda, or simply that the music was too repetitive. I could see how 10 or 12 songs in that same style would get old fast. Apparently, The Juliana Theory didn't take too well to the criticisms circulating on the Internet from people who wanted them to rock harder and say "Jesus" more. So they went in pretty much the opposite direction, moving farther away from the punk/hardcore end of things and throwing in more acoustic and electronic elements. What came out was a lovely sonic tapestry - a bit of a daunting mix at first, but an album that sinks in quite comfortably once you've got your head around it all. As if to poke fun at their musical peers, they titled the album Emotion Is Dead. Don't let that fool you. On this record, emotion is alive and kicking, and sometimes even screaming.

"Into the Dark"

"I'd give you my hand if you reach out and grab it / Let's walk away from this hell"

The album starts off with a rather relaxing, melodic tune, led off by an electronic keyboard sound establishing a ¾ beat. As soon as the drums kick in, lead singer Brett Detar greets us with an update of the prodigal son story as he gently croons, "Dad, your boy is about to fall. He walks the razor's edge." Though a bit of a mellow start, this track gives us a hint of things to come - you can hear slight traces of a snotty punk singer in Detar's voice, but it's mostly reined in by a sweeter, melodic quality. The chorus is a little more forceful, definitely very catchy, and soon the song fades away on very soft "ba-ba" backing vocals, transitioning quite smoothly into the next song.

"Don't Push Love Away"

"It's a chore, holding onto a vision / Don't leave her high and dry / She's the one you'll be missing"

A soft guitar strum leads this one off, with Brett quietly pleading, "Here's a thought, if you're willing to listen - I only tell the truth of the feelings I'm given." The song runs through three or four very short verses, each time leading back to a resonating chorus as the song builds steam. The Juliana Theory is known for thinking outside of the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus song structure, often beginning with the chorus and ending with a verse, or beginning and ending with the same line (the old folk music trick), as on this track. Brett seems to be pleading for a good friend to let him in, or possibly to let God in (the subtle line "Whispers in the wind while you're awake" is about as specific as it gets). So far, the band has created a very relaxed mood with two mid-tempo tunes, almost as if to deter the hardcore rockers now instead of getting their hopes up and disappointing them later (don't we all hate those albums that start off with a bang and then just fizzle out in the last half?).

"To the Tune of 5,000 Screaming Children"

"We're not misinformed or misdirected / We'll make our own insurrection / So keep on publishing our wrongs"

Alrighty, you wanted a more rocking tune - well, here you go. Squealing guitar feedback overlaps the ending of the last tune, getting louder and louder, with a creepy militant shout in the background that seems to be saying "Left! Right! Left!" The feedback finally erupts into a kinetic guitar riff, and with a shout Brett dives in, bitterly singing, "We knew you'd hate this before we wrote it." The song is basically a matter-of-fact indictment of the fans who didn't get it the first time around, calling the detractors out onto the carpet for being nothing more than "an alias, an Email address". They might even be making a swipe at the press, too, though from what I recall, Christian music magazines gave them rather positive reviews. It may seem out of line for a Christian band to bite the hand that feeds it, but in Juliana's case, they were getting fed a lot of negativity and divisiveness, and this is their clever stance against it. The band's punk influences definitely come out here, with the chorus closely resembling a group of taunting kids. Neener neener!

"We're at the Top of the World (To the Simple Two)"

"You reached in your pocket / And pulled out a pass / That says you can take me anywhere"

Ready for a good dose of guitar pop in the spirit of Weezer? We've got a good fix for you here. This is one of those compact, peppy little songs that seems almost detachedly happy given the angst that surrounds it. The lyrics are pretty minimal on this one, with each verse having about four lines, rounded out with an insanely repetitive "sha la la la" chorus. It makes me think of Weezer's "Island in the Sun" every time I hear it. It's a fun song, though I can't say why it's here, other than to further befuddle fans, and to prove that these guys can harmonize.

"Is Patience Still Waiting?"

"Are you laughing at us today? / And is this just one big game? / Now cash me in while you can"

A grittier guitar riff revs this one up, setting the stage for a more typical emo sound - a steady, but not too fast, tempo, a thick bed of guitars and drums, and lyrics that vacillate between calm, cynical, and outright frustrated. Brett seems to be questioning God in this one (I think it's the only song on the album where he mentions God directly) when he asks "Will I wait on my knees?". What he's asking for, I'm not quite sure. Probably something he's been wanting for a long time. Maybe he's actually asking God for patience. And he wants it now! There is some nice guitar work on this one, especially the finger-picking accompanied by the heavier rhythm guitar during the bridge, though Brett gets a little freaky when he repeatedly screams "Come on!" during an otherwise beautiful section of the song. Still a good track, but not one of the stronger cuts on the album.

"Emotion Is Dead Pt. 1"

The title track is an instrumental, driven by a mournful piano and a synthesized break beat. It sounds kind of like something Moby and Linkin Park would have concocted in the studio before their morning coffee. A pretty cool track, though the bass gets a little heavy for my speakers. (I believe that's classified as "booty bass", but somehow I don't think this was its intended use.)

"If I Told You This Was Killing Me, Would You Stop?"

"Now you're standing on your soapbox / Shouting from the rooftops / Everything you say is a lie..."

Another half-punk, half-arena rock song kicks in right after the instrumental, and if you thought the title was a mouthful, just try memorizing the lyrics. Brett seems to be telling someone off - somebody who likes to talk regardless of whether what he's saying is accurate or not. Once again, there's that underlying theme of calling someone out who uses his tongue for divisive purposes. The other guys gently sing "Listen, here's the pleasant part, you and I, we fell apart" in the background while Brett echoes "Why can't you make up your mind?". The structure and layering of the song is pleasingly complex, even though it seems to simply meander at first before coming to a close with some quiet guitar harmonics. I'm willing to bet that this track is going to be a fan favorite in concert.

"We're Nothing Without You"

"You took away all my anger / We put away all your pride"

This track is very spacey - not too far from something label mates Starflyer 59 would do (they're on Tooth & Nail records, by the way - the epitome of the Christian underground). The guitars are just mesmerizing, and the verses are rather sleepy and detached, until the chorus, where that punk sneer comes out again as Brett taunts, "We took it all away from you!" The song manages to be very soothing and unsettling at the same time, and once again those militant shouts can be heard in the background. My "theory" is that it's about sin and rebellion against God. Taken out of context, it wouldn't make much sense at all. Who's taking what away from whom? That's part of what earns this CD so much repeat play.

"Something Isn't Right Here"

"You never said goodbye, you died / You chose to carry on a lie"

Dang straight, something isn't right here! They've gone and turned into a boy band! Okay, calm down, not really. But the vocal harmonics and gentle acoustic guitars will catch you off guard. The opening "ooh-ooh"s will set you up for something along the lines of "You are my fire my one desire", but instead, the song does more of a 70's folk-type thing, telling a very brief and enigmatic tale of a friend who apparently committed suicide. At just over two minutes, I can't really tell much more than that. Interesting diversion, I suppose. Probably another attempt to derail fans who expect them to rock out. They sure make bucking trends a lot more appealing than Radiohead does

"Understand the Dream Is Over"

"You're staring at a black screen / Your body starts to tense / When two plus two is five or less / It's time to question common sense."

Okay, now that we've proven we don't have to rock out, we're ready to do it again! The last upbeat tune on the record (not counting the final instrumental) makes a purposeful reference back to the group's first album, Understand This Is a Dream, giving the listener a rude awakening by describing a world where everything isn't as black and white as it seems. I think this might be a dig at legalistic Christians, who would likely go into a tizzy over the line "Our theory's only obvious to the skeptical, and at the bitter end." It seems to be the band's "mission statement" or something, but it's gonna take some more unraveling. It may not be as musically inventive as some of the other tracks on the record, but it rocks and it's got a great chorus, concluding in the perplexing line "Don't go looking for answers, you're better following trails."

"This Is Your Life"

"How you gonna hold out when you sold out? / Life's a riddle, here's a clue"

Mmmm this track just melts me. It starts off so sweet, with gentle keyboard notes and a soft, programmed rhythm. Some people might be put off with the "Baby, baby, baby"s during the chorus, but I love how it gives the listener a false sense of security, putting forth the illusion of a love song while really being a bittersweet breakup song. I'm sure this is common subject matter for emo bands - apparently someone in the band had a relationship fall apart due to a lack of trying on the part of the girl. I could be seeing this through the biased lens of my own life, but it's definitely a standout "sleeper hit". At a few points where the other guys are shouting in unison in the background, I'm vaguely reminded of Cake. You gotta love how many apparent influences these guys have.

"You Always Say Goodnight, Goodnight"

"So baby, did you sleep an hour for me? / How I wish I was there right now"

Well, this one's a doozy. It starts off as a gentle piano ballad, accompanied by programming (much like the last track), and it seems to describe a rather tentative breakup. (I'll admit, the last few songs on this album can be a bit of a depressing note to end on.) Who dumped whom? It's not clear from the lyrics of the song, but there is a sad feeling of loss that permeates the whole song. The guys provide some nice melodies once again, right before the song suddenly shifts from gentle love song to old-school metal power ballad. The entirety of the song lasts over nine minutes, what with the long (and somewhat repetitive) guitar break in the middle. It just screams "wannabe epic". A little more inventiveness during the middle portion of the song might have helped propel it into a more progressive, Pink Floyd sort of vibe - I'm sure that's the effect they were going for. But as it stands, it's one more defiance of traditional modern rock song length and structure. As the song winds down, the original piano melody returns, albeit sounding a bit warped, as if it had been recorded onto an audio tape that was left on the dashboard of someone's car on a summer day. The piano is actually starting to sound familiar at this point, almost like the melody from

"Emotion Is Dead Pt. 2"

A seamless transition introduces a slamming dance track over the piano melody, which twists and turns through subtle variations over nearly five minutes to end out the album. It's not the same thing as Part One, but it's a similar theme. I think this was something that Brett came up with on his own while fooling around with his computer equipment, and then he and the band found a way to work backwards and get the basic melody into a song, which became "Goodnight". It's a clever exercise in theme and variation, moving from power ballad to techno while keeping the same tune. However, five minutes of the same warped melody on top of an already long track sometimes makes for less of an impact at the very end when Brett finally repeats the line from "Goodnight", "Did you really think that it was over?" It's a clever end to the CD; it leaves the listener with uncertainty, and likely a strong curiosity to see what the Theory comes up with next. Still, they probably could have trimmed two to three minutes out of the last two tracks and not left out anything important. The bass also gets a bit overbearing on this tune - I realize it's a standard for techno music, but given that the rest of the CD is rock and not techno, it can be a pain to have to adjust the bass levels on my car stereo just for this one song (contrary to popular belief, not all young drivers like to crank up their bass to deafening levels and drive around looking menacing).

Overall, I consider this album to be brilliant - a true work of modern rock art that operates just fine outside of a limited genre. It has a few tiny shortcomings, and certainly the massive range of influences has thrown a lot of people off, but hey, I like all of the styles of music represented here, and they're mixed together so well. If people think it's cool to hate The Juliana Theory, then consider me counter-culture. Interestingly, Juliana has been signed to Epic Records, with a new EP out last month, and a new album due out in the spring. I really hope they get the positive attention they deserve. I think we know that if they do, the screaming children will suddenly change their tune.

I would highly recommend this album to the following list of people:

1) Anyone looking for a unique modern rock band with a broad array of sounds and influences.

2) Anyone who is bothered by the notion that Christian bands must have a clear spiritual agenda to validate their existence in the industry.

3) Anyone who was melancholy enough to think Much Afraid was better than Jars of Clay's first album.

4) Anyone looking for interesting background music while they play video games. (You know who you are.)

David's Score: 5/5