We’re back with another installment of the Praisedown and we’re revisiting Relient K! This week, Heath, Alex, and Jill sit down with the keyboard and clarinet player for Flock of Pigs: Wyatt Helms! Join us for conversation topics including:
- Is your church actually a cult maybe?
- What does the ‘K’ in Relient K stand for?
- Keyblade forging and shopping tips!
Stick with us to experience our show’s first ad break, and a deep dive into Relient K’s 2004 release, Mmhmm!
Relient K delivers secular-grade pop punk on Mmhmm
We’ve covered Relient K on a previous episode, but haven’t had a chance to do an overview.
Relient K formed in Canton, Ohio, consisting originally of Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman. The band’s namesake is Hoopes’ car, a Plymouth Reliant K Car. The misspelling of ‘Reliant’ is intentional to avoid copyright infringement. The band has enjoyed vast crossover success, with three of their studio albums peaking in the the top 15 of the Billboard top 200, and a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Gospel Album in 2004.
Relient K’s 2004 release, Mmhmm, is likely their most popular release to date. The tracks Be My Escape and Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been are vastly responsible for Relient K’s current mainstream popularity. Mmhmm is a blend of pop punk, alternative rock, and 80’s throwback power pop with abundantly cute and clever lyrics, which is par for the course for Thiessen, who wrote every track on the album. We’d have preferred the entire tone of the album to be less poppy, and for Thiessen’s critiques on society to be more specific or scathing. A more punk record is probably what we’re asking for here, but we can’t deny that this is an album full of hits.
For a full review, check out the episode below!
The Praisedown with Heath and Alex – The Chad Youth Pastor: Relient K with Wyatt Helms
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Before you go!
- Check out Flock of Pigs’ brand spankin’ new music video for their song “Let’s Go (Khaiyabina)”!
- Join us on twitter with this week’s hashtag #thekinrelientkstandsfor !
