108 - DC Talk - Jesus Freak (feat. Tarence Ray)
Tarence Ray (Trillbilly Worker’s Party) and the lads jot down their devotionals and sing praises to the mid-90s as they cover DC Talk’s seminal 1995 grunge-as-worship album: Jesus Freak. Topics include the band’s Liberty University origins, the impressive sonic palette, and what it takes to make art in the world of corporate evangelicalism.
Tarence Ray - Twitter // Instagram // The Baffler // The Nation
Trillbilly Worker’s Party - Trillbilly Worker’s Party is a podcast about a town called Whitesburg, Kentucky. Apple Podcasts // Spotify // Patreon
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Media Referenced in this Episode:
Jesus Freak by DC Talk - Spotify // Apple Music
33 1/3’s DC Talk’s Jesus Freak by Will Stockton and D. Gilson. Bloomsbury Press, 2018.
DC Talk: Jesus Freak-The Pitchfork Review by Brad Shoup. Pitchfork.com. August 1st, 2021.
“Finding Hip-Hop's Sacred Ground” by Natalie Hopkinson. The Washington Post, April 20th, 2003.
intermission: a decade of dc Talk. PAX TV Special. November 17th, 2000.
President Trump gives Michael Tait (of #NewsboysUnited) a shout out!
TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com
Comments (20)
what would people think
I don't really care
Hi AJ. After Tarence's comment about them, I'm genuinely regretting not showing you Skillet back in the day. I was I N T O those first two albums.
Just finished the episode! I've thought a lot myself about the sea change in Christian music to where it all sounds like "vibes." To me while it was starting to happen over the 2000s, it didn't really kick in until the Obama presidency. During the 2000s as a Christian kid there were still bands like flyleaf, Thousand foot krutch, and reliant k making "youth-oriented music." I feel 2012 is really the year the vibes took over. I remember as a kid being upset because skillet had released a new album but air 1 (our youth oriented k-love sister station) wouldn't play it, then just played the single skillet recorded for the Shack movie that sounded like CCM . I feel like it partly had to do with evangelical christianity becoming a more insular subculture after W Bush. As less of it bleed out into mainstream culture, less of mainstream culture bled back into it resulting in the sound of Christian music cannibalizing itself.
This episode’s advert is definitely the funniest one this year, and possibly funniest to date 🤣🤣🤣
"Neutral Pope Milk Hotel" :glares at podcast:
Literally begging God to make you guys go on Guys: a Podcast About Guys ASAP. Which denomination of sweaty American Protestantism do I need to convert to for my prayer to be answered?
I’m all for this BUT they should have the guys from Guys as a guest
I'm from Albuquerque an love the New Mexico talk with Brian and Tarence. Hearing all the niche NM evengical references makes me feel very seen.
Feel this.
M88 was the same as KLYT. Calvary church in Albuquerque bought KYLT and eventually renamed it / rebranded as M88.
From my memory anyway. Brian feel free to fact check
I hate how I had to go back and listen to Jesus Freak for the first time in 20 years to prepare for this episode.
It's so weird being able to see both how the CCM I grew up is kind of a shitty version of pop music AND how Christian music really did fall off lol. Even when I was still in that mindset I had opinions about the direction it was heading. Fuck you Hillsong, David Crowder, etc.
PS, wasn't expecting to get triggered by hearing AJ say "preaching the word."
You guys should cover the hells bells series
Featuring such lines as “anecdotal evidence from that have consorted with the devil” and “he preached everything from reefer to reincarnation”
Just started listening. It's interestng the slower turnover rate in Christian music. I was born in '96, but I am still familiar with a good half of this album since its big songs were still getting play on christian radio and at youth group meetings well into the 2000s and even 2010s.
But also I wad homeschooling so maybe it was just that why I was behind the times lol.
This episode was straight up made in a lab to make me in particular hype. Can’t wait to listen this afternoon