Dancing For God

Dance or Die

Family Force 5

By Hunter Embry

Family Force 5 describe themselves as Christian crunk-rock. Dressed like hipsters from outer space who landed smack-dab in the middle of the 1984 new wave dance scene, the Olds brothers, Solomon (vocals), Jacob (drums) and Joshua (bass), along with Nathan Currin (turntables), and Derek Mount (lead guitar) fuse dance, rock, hip-hop and sometimes screaming vocals to create an originally familiar sound.

FF5's sophomore effort, Dance or Die, is full of heavy-synthed dance rock tunes with gritty vocals that provide simple lyrics. The album's title track is the start of what the Olds brothers believe will be a Christian rock revolution that apparently is going to be constructed through dancing.

Solomon screams, "We're gonna take control. Dancing is your weapon. Let your moves unfold. Kill em' with your steppin'. We can win this war."

The simple lyrics continue throughout the album and are showcased in "Get Your Back Off The Wall," where FF5 provides a dark, off-the-wall N*E*R*D production style with Linkin Park-ish fast-paced guitar riffs and rock drums.

"This revolution starts when you're movin'. Don't wanna stop me, unless you plan on losing," Solomon whines in an Ozzy-like vocal before screaming, "Back off the wall" in a chord-shredding fashion.

Without a doubt, FF5 has a knack for writing sweaty dance tracks, but their minimalistic style of writing begs the question of whether or not the group is having trouble balancing the lifestyle and image of techno-dance-rock stars with their beliefs of re-establishing a dead Christian-pop scene. After all, Creed could still have been a chart-topper if their narcissistic, drunk lead-singer Scott Stapp just admitted he was a drunk and sang about that instead of playing preacher. Who knows?

Save yourself over atwww.FamilyForce5.com.