Christian bands in hardcore are ridiculous, right?. It’s an absolute sham to be alleged free thinkers and then adopt the idea of Christianity no matter how loosely you adopt the words in the bible. The hardcore bands that do this in my eyes are imposters. They are as hardcore as The Lighthouse Family or Phil Collins or whatever. Metal, Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, fair enough, do what you want but hardcore and punk Christians, well it’s just silly. Spirituality is another and far more complex matter but you can never win an argument with someone who believes in god or believes that Jesus was the ultimate walking on water, back from the dead, zombie rock star so I don’t bother any more. I am a tolerant chap. All organised religions are poo-ey phooey and if you are educated to any level and not American then it’s a no brainer.
Saying this, the best band I have seen in recent years is The Chariot and their lead singer is a mental Christian fellow called Josh Scogin and they have now decided to split up. I didn’t listen to Norma Jean no matter how good my friends would tell me they were because they were Christians and then last year I went to Hevy Fest and watched The Chariot. I absolutely loved them, they were utterly incredible. Only after the fact did I learn that the lead singer was that nutty Christian fella from Norma Jean. You can see me in the front row in the red Municipal Waste shirt as Josh uses us as a body board.
It made me re address a few things. As I said I am a tolerant fellow and it didn’t anger me that organised religion had infiltrated my hardcore listening pleasure. It angered me that I used to get so bothered about it. Hardcore is a way of life only when it’s a way of life, it’s not my way of life any longer, i got jaded just like everybody does yet to be honest I still prefer the idea of Christian hardcore to hardline straight edge thugs in hardcore. The scene has been so split for decades now that new bands and new ideas have spun the original ideas that spawnd the hardcore scene off their axis. A free thinking creative mind, well, It’s a great thing that creates some great music.
Now Joshua is an American so Christianity has bound to have been bashed into his brain from an early age but why get all precious about it. I couldn’t hear his lyrics when he was screaming them in my face. The band was utterly explosive and he is one of the best frontmen I have ever seen. His faith hasn’t changed that. Reading his lyrics they are not preachy and at times they are utterly ambiguous. What’s more he has done something I could never do. He fronted one of the best live bands that have ever walked the earth. I will miss The Chariot a great deal.
lostinrock 