108 - DC Talk - Jesus Freak (feat. Tarence Ray)
Added 2023-10-11 06:00:04 +0000 UTCTarence Ray (Trillbilly Worker’s Party) and the lads jot down their devotionals and sing praises to the mid-90s as they cover DC Talk’s seminal 1995 grunge-as-worship album: Jesus Freak. Topics include the band’s Liberty University origins, the impressive sonic palette, and what it takes to make art in the world of corporate evangelicalism.
Tarence Ray - Twitter // Instagram // The Baffler // The Nation
Trillbilly Worker’s Party - Trillbilly Worker’s Party is a podcast about a town called Whitesburg, Kentucky. Apple Podcasts // Spotify // Patreon
Want more TWOAPW? Get access to our full back catalogue of premium/bonus episodes and add your name to the masthead of our website by subscribing for $5/month at Patreon.com/worstofall!
Media Referenced in this Episode:
- Jesus Freak by DC Talk - Spotify // Apple Music
- 33 1/3’s DC Talk’s Jesus Freak by Will Stockton and D. Gilson. Bloomsbury Press, 2018.
- DC Talk: Jesus Freak-The Pitchfork Review by Brad Shoup. Pitchfork.com. August 1st, 2021.
- “Finding Hip-Hop's Sacred Ground” by Natalie Hopkinson. The Washington Post, April 20th, 2003.
- intermission: a decade of dc Talk. PAX TV Special. November 17th, 2000.
- Michael Tait thanks President Trump
- President Trump gives Michael Tait (of #NewsboysUnited) a shout out!
TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com
Comments
Sufjan Stevens occupied a similar position for awhile.
Nancy Carr
2023-10-26 18:33:21 +0000 UTCthere ain’t no disguising the Truth
Allen
2023-10-14 22:53:02 +0000 UTCI don't really care
The Worst of all Possible Worlds
2023-10-14 22:44:31 +0000 UTCwhat would people think
Allen
2023-10-14 22:11:45 +0000 UTCHi AJ. After Tarence's comment about them, I'm genuinely regretting not showing you Skillet back in the day. I was I N T O those first two albums.
Nathan Woods
2023-10-13 02:02:13 +0000 UTCJust finished the episode! I've thought a lot myself about the sea change in Christian music to where it all sounds like "vibes." To me while it was starting to happen over the 2000s, it didn't really kick in until the Obama presidency. During the 2000s as a Christian kid there were still bands like flyleaf, Thousand foot krutch, and reliant k making "youth-oriented music." I feel 2012 is really the year the vibes took over. I remember as a kid being upset because skillet had released a new album but air 1 (our youth oriented k-love sister station) wouldn't play it, then just played the single skillet recorded for the Shack movie that sounded like CCM . I feel like it partly had to do with evangelical christianity becoming a more insular subculture after W Bush. As less of it bleed out into mainstream culture, less of mainstream culture bled back into it resulting in the sound of Christian music cannibalizing itself.
Paula Sulpice
2023-10-12 21:56:32 +0000 UTCthey did have bryan q on back when he was on street fight but i agree we need some guys x twoapw synergy. both awesome podcasts
BrianAlflordIsGoodActually
2023-10-12 21:36:11 +0000 UTCTheir music wasn't really for me, but my main complaint wasn't them specifically just the way that type of music took over. Sure, a lot of tbe stuff from the 90s and early 00s was trying to sound like pop music but it was also more interesting musically and even sometimes lyrically versus the "Lord I lift your name on high/ I can inky imagine" type stuff that took over. Only speaking for myself here, but there def started a "who's the most spiritual because their music focuses more on praising God" type vibe in the circles I was in. Helped push me past just listening to Christian music cause it all sounded the so similar and stale to me.
Dergon
2023-10-12 14:27:53 +0000 UTCI actually think David Crowder Band was one of the better '00s praise and worship bands if only because they covered Sufjan Steven's on an album
Paula Sulpice
2023-10-12 13:20:28 +0000 UTCThis episode’s advert is definitely the funniest one this year, and possibly funniest to date 🤣🤣🤣
The Token Detergent Rinser (British)
2023-10-12 08:25:14 +0000 UTC"Neutral Pope Milk Hotel" :glares at podcast:
Robert Young
2023-10-12 01:32:18 +0000 UTCI’m all about that but it would be the cherry on top to have the guys of Guys as guests lol
Blast Hardcheese
2023-10-11 23:31:09 +0000 UTCI’m all for this BUT they should have the guys from Guys as a guest
Blast Hardcheese
2023-10-11 23:30:39 +0000 UTCSeconded.
FamiCommie
2023-10-11 23:02:22 +0000 UTCLiterally begging God to make you guys go on Guys: a Podcast About Guys ASAP. Which denomination of sweaty American Protestantism do I need to convert to for my prayer to be answered?
FamiCommie
2023-10-11 22:49:02 +0000 UTCFeel this.
Rosey Armstrong
2023-10-11 22:22:38 +0000 UTCYes! Static! Forgot that one, it was definitely later/when I was in college/not in NM/and not listening to or at least listening less to Christian music. Interesting, thanks for the info
Rosey Armstrong
2023-10-11 22:21:17 +0000 UTCI'm from Albuquerque an love the New Mexico talk with Brian and Tarence. Hearing all the niche NM evengical references makes me feel very seen.
Nyeaustin
2023-10-11 22:08:27 +0000 UTCCan confirm, I interned there for a few months. It was then rebranded as Static Radio then Star 88 before becoming just basic modern Christian music.
Nyeaustin
2023-10-11 22:04:47 +0000 UTCFrom my memory anyway. Brian feel free to fact check
Rosey Armstrong
2023-10-11 21:27:39 +0000 UTCM88 was the same as KLYT. Calvary church in Albuquerque bought KYLT and eventually renamed it / rebranded as M88.
Rosey Armstrong
2023-10-11 19:57:11 +0000 UTCPS, wasn't expecting to get triggered by hearing AJ say "preaching the word."
Dergon
2023-10-11 17:39:48 +0000 UTCFeaturing such lines as “anecdotal evidence from that have consorted with the devil” and “he preached everything from reefer to reincarnation”
Zipzapzop
2023-10-11 17:19:24 +0000 UTCIt's interesting to hear Pedro the Lion mentioned because I was a big fan in the early aughts, as were a lot of people in the scene in my extremely secular mid-size midwest college city. I remember initially being very iffy about them and a friend assuring me that Pedro the Lion "wasn't that kind of Christian band". They were, as far as I can remember, the only acceptable Christian music in our little punk/indie scene.
Virginia Paine
2023-10-11 16:13:42 +0000 UTCI hate how I had to go back and listen to Jesus Freak for the first time in 20 years to prepare for this episode.
Grouchiest Marxiest
2023-10-11 15:28:50 +0000 UTCIt's so weird being able to see both how the CCM I grew up is kind of a shitty version of pop music AND how Christian music really did fall off lol. Even when I was still in that mindset I had opinions about the direction it was heading. Fuck you Hillsong, David Crowder, etc.
Dergon
2023-10-11 15:19:27 +0000 UTCYou guys should cover the hells bells series
Zipzapzop
2023-10-11 15:14:48 +0000 UTCBut also I wad homeschooling so maybe it was just that why I was behind the times lol.
Paula Sulpice
2023-10-11 13:01:41 +0000 UTCJust started listening. It's interestng the slower turnover rate in Christian music. I was born in '96, but I am still familiar with a good half of this album since its big songs were still getting play on christian radio and at youth group meetings well into the 2000s and even 2010s.
Paula Sulpice
2023-10-11 12:58:11 +0000 UTCThis episode was straight up made in a lab to make me in particular hype. Can’t wait to listen this afternoon
Jacob Dallas
2023-10-11 12:00:28 +0000 UTC
