Be My Escape

“I watched the proverbial sunrise
Coming up over the Pacific and
You might think I’m losing my mind
But I will shy away from the specifics”

I think of Reliant K as “goody good boy Pop Punk”. And I mean that affectionately. It’s wholesome, brightly sunny and never fails to crack a smile with me. But it’s sincere, oh it’s very sincere.

Reliant K were, at the time of Mmhmm’s release, a famous Christian band. A Christian Punk band might seem like something to sneer at, a very Bush-era anachronism, but there was an huge community and label system (especially Tooth and Nail) built up around producing relatively clean-and-clear fast and loud Pop Punk. For teens who wanted to hold true to their beliefs while still cutting loose.

Yet where Reliant K inarguably flourish on Mmhmm is their ability to write with Christian themes without being too overtly blunt. “Not being preachy” is a common compliment to the album. That wasn’t always the case with the band, their early work is much more overt in their beliefs, with their hilarious anti-Goth song Marilyn Manson Ate My Girlfriend standing out as a truly unique curio. Their earlier albums were puppy dog earnest and musically bouncy. But very scatterbrained. With topics focusing on tv shows, the trials of belief, girls and cars, soundtracked by a decent Blink-182-ish bounce. I’m quite for of their earlier albums, but Mmhmm stands out, in ambition and scope, as a kind of Christian Pop Punk Black Parade in comparison.

Stop right there, that’s exactly where I lost it
See that line, well I never should have crossed it
Stop right there, well I never should have said
That it’s the very moment that I wish that I could take back

I’m sorry for the person I became
I’m sorry that it took so long for me to change
I’m ready to try and never become that way again
‘Cause who I am hates who I’ve been
Who I am hates who I’ve been

Mmhmm’s Christian themes here are more mature, poetic, pensive and slightly subdued. Christianity has always been good at redemption, and these songs are soaked in the forgiving water. Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been “It’s the very moment that I wish that I could take back”. Be My Escape finding them locked inside doubt and insecurity but YOU hold the key. Who ‘you’ is might vary, and that’s intentional. Whether religious or secular, the cleansing power is there. The melodrama and yearning is so good, but especially because it offers the listener absolution. Emo and Pop Punk are at their absolute worst when wallowing in shallow self-pity. But they’re at their best when they let a shard of light break through. It’s just so easy to feel something from the finer moments of these songs, and it’s always been that way.

Musically, everything is smoother and more layered than their previous albums. The chewy Pop Punk core is still there, but completed with vocal harmonies, strings, synths, bells and prominent luxurious pianos. Big, solid, professional recording tricks, that allow the sweetness of the lyrics and melodies depth and room in a way Reliant K never had before.

How many kids had Mmhmm as their first real album? How many sheltered adolescents fell in love with music because of it? Just the right level of welcoming teenage angst. The kind of music that soundtracked a thousand Kingdom Hearts anime music videos back on 2006 YouTube. Teenage kids with Windows Movie Maker trying to use these songs to make sense of their own emotions in simple, open ways. I remember, because I was there. Mmhmm really makes me smile.