When you pop in a CD by a band called Peace of Mind (Tooth & Nail Records) some may have predisposed thoughts of what they’ll hear. The old saying goes sometimes you can guess a band’s music by their name. However this is very untrue of the ten tracks making up the self-titled disk. In fact the first 20 seconds begin with a certain word play irony. Turn It Up begins applying a noisy, scratchy drill conjuring many worse-case scenario dental situations to mind. However the rest of the song and disk is a joy of rock, hip hop, R&B, metal mixes that are catchy, lyrically heavy with personal touches and could easily do musical battle with similar sounding mainstream contemporaries.
The rest of the opening track after 21 seconds pounds right into a drummin’ guitar slammin’ banshee complete with rap lyrics shouting respect to Aerosmith/Run DMC’s iconic collaboration along with namedrops to Fred Durst and POD. The song and disk are a refreshing blend of rap/rock with German highway speed lyrics.
Don’t Ever Give Up deals with the painful journeys of tragedy and betrayal. I Am is a loud proud statement of being God’s creation asking the ultimate question: are you really gonna mess with a guy that came back from the dead? We’re Gonna Make It through a tough life with not a lot handed to us but we’re gonna make it with what we got minus the brand names and best toys. Being in the middle of parental conflicts, divorce in the 4th grade makes a kid humble. He’s Coming Soon with the impact of a car/plane crash at once.
After All rubs the shoulders with a softer touch handling the weaker moments of human faith. Track eight carries a punkish, ska beat with a quasi-humorous POV going back to the days of elementary dating, please check yes or no. If she says yes I’ll never cheat on a math test again. Numeral nine plays a reggae beat with vocals about a girl looking for the right kind of love. The last track, a good one, is a surprise.
The CD is a good buy for any fan of the above bands. They could easily be the Christian counterparts to Mr. Durst’s outfit and could be better. The disk seems to satisfy most of the youthful cravings of the current scene and is straightforward and brash without carrying the almost standard ‘trash talk’ luggage of more popular records.
