Catch for Us the Foxes

Album Review

Unless a Christian rocker plans to perform for Christian audiences exclusively, he or she needs to provide music that secular audiences will find relevant — music that listeners can relate to on some level even if they aren't practicing Christians. As a rule, that hasn't been a problem for Tooth & Nail's artists, and it certainly isn't a problem on Catch for Us the Foxes. Whatever one's religious views, this album is a gutsy, impassioned example of punk-drenched alternative rock. The Christian elements in mewithoutYou's lyrics aren't terribly overt; the Philadelphia residents aren't beating listeners over their heads and telling them to repent or else. Catch for Us the Foxes doesn't preach, judge, or condemn; rather, lead singer Aaron Weiss describes his own emotional struggles and does so in a very cathartic, confessional, stream-of-consciousness way. Emotionally, Weiss really lays his cards on the table — and like a lot of secular alterna-rockers, he doesn't hesitate to express his angst. In fact, angst is quite plentiful on Catch for Us the Foxes, which isn't to say that the album is overly negative. mewithoutYou's work isn't as consistently dark as Nirvana or Hole — this is a Christian band, after all — but Weiss does deal with his emotions in a totally candid, no-nonsense fashion, which means addressing the good, the bad, and the ugly. And even though Weiss' spirituality comes through, Catch for Us the Foxes doesn't feel like a sermon or come across as rigidly sectarian. One could be a devout Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Rastafarian, or Sikh — someone who has no interest in converting to Christianity — and still find Weiss' performances meaningful. With Catch for Us the Foxes, mewithoutYou has delivered an album that both Christians and non-Christians will be able to relate to.