My Top 40 Albums - #35

#35
The O.C. Supertones - "Loud and Clear"

Year: 2000
Label: BEC
Favorite songs: Jury Duty, Spend It With You, Wilderness, Escape From Reason, Return of the Revolution
Lyric sample: "We try to be emotional but here is our mistake / As a church we lack repentance / And we lack true affection / Not only in our minds, but our hearts need correction / And man that's true religion / Resignation and contrition / To love each other so much that we'd die before division"

Harsh words once again mixed with energetic party music. Like Martin Luther or John Edwards, both of whom get their names dropped in "Return of the Revolution," Matt Morginsky is something of a voice crying in the wilderness. He's the Steve Camp or the Keith Green of his generation. "Return of the Revolution," which, according to the liner notes, could have been a sprawling 9-minute epic had all its verses been included, is basically a sermon to the modern church calling for repentance. Many of the high-ranking albums on this list can be called more mature than earlier efforts by the same band or artist. Loud and Clear is no exception. We saw nuggets of this kind of preaching in Strike Back, but likes of "Revolution" and "Escape From Reason" really pack a wallop. Backing up the lyrical fire is a tighter, heavier musical version of the Supertones. Example: The opener "Escape From Reason." When I first heard this on the radio, I had no idea it was the Supertones. It's aggressive rap-core unlike almost anything that the band has done previously. The guitars have never sounded better and the song writing remains strong. Loud and Clear should command the kind of respect that ska albums often don't.

Guest appearances by the likes of Grits and Toby Mac are interesting, but what really sets Loud and Clear above the other Supertones albums is consistently strong songwriting. "Wilderness" and "Jury Duty" should instant greatest hits contenders. I don't particularly care for some of the more reggae tracks like "My Father's World" and "Lift Me Up," but there are plenty of straight up rock tracks to make up for it. The forthright "Pandora's Box" leads into a string of upbeat guitar-driven songs like "Another Show" and "20/20." While Chase the Sun seemed to retreat a lot of the same territory as Strike Back, Loud and Clear feels fresh, with its own distinct sound and direction. It's professionally assembled. Ironically, only "Forward to the Future" really recalls the O.C. sounds of yesteryear. Perhaps the most underrated track is the finale, "Spend it With You." It's long been one of my favorites. It may not be as challenging or deep as some of the earlier powerhouses, but I feel it has an understated poignancy belied by the laid-back pacing in the verses. The driving final verse and ending chorus is sonically pleasing but there is somehow a tinge of sadness or incompleteness tugging at the corners that I believe is intentional. Maybe not everyone would pick up on this, but that is the complicated emotion with which the song leaves me. My only complaint is that it fades out far too quickly at the end. They should have left the jam going for a while.

All in all this is the Supertones' strongest release, and looking back on the career they've had, that's saying something. R.I.P. O.C.