While shopping for a new record deal, the Choir independently released this CD and sold it almost exclusively at concerts. It's a pretty polished indie album, and it's also one of their most aggressive. The familiar melodic pop sensibility is still audible, but Derri Daugherty's amiable vocals are surrounded by his growling and hissing guitars. It makes for an interesting combination. Once they were signed by R.E.X., Daugherty and drummer/lyricist Steve Hindalong recorded new versions of several of these songs (they appear on Speckled Bird). ~ Darryl Cater, All Music Guide
Dan Michaels (Lyricon), Dan Michaels (Saxophone), Derri Daugherty (Vocals), Derri Daugherty (Guitar), Steve Hindalong (Percussion), Tim Chandler (Vocals), Tim Chandler (Guitar), Tim Chandler (Bass), Steve Hindalong (Producer), Steve Hindalong (Drums), Derri Daugherty (Producer), Steve Hindalong (Vocals)
Rather than renew their recording contract with Myrrh, The Choir decided to create their own record label, Glasshouse, through which they could release their future albums independently. At this point in the band's musical evolution, the twin strands of worship-minded compositions and confessional songs about love and loss had begun to diverge, so after Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong provided their first album of worship music, At the Foot of the Cross, Volume One: Clouds, Rain, Fire, to the Christian market, the band put together what essentially was a collection of demos intended to attract the interest of a mainstream record label. To that end, only 6300 copies were ever pressed, and the album is now difficult to find.
Far more aggressive than anything the band had ever released, Kissers and Killers is a non-stop collection of alternative rock songs that bluntly address the complexities of romantic love and obsession. The only breather in the set is "Let the Sky Fall," a roots-rock composition featuring Hindalong on only his second lead vocal for the band (the first being the somewhat goofy "Everybody in the Band" on Chase the Kangaroo).
This is the last album that the band would record in California, before Daugherty, Hindalong and Dan Michaels decided to uproot their families and move across the country to Nashville, Tennessee in the latter part of 1993. At that time, all of the songs on this album were either re-recorded or remixed for release as part of the band's next album Speckled Bird, with the exception of "Let the Sky Fall," as Hindalong was insecure about his vocals. However, it can be argued that the track order presented here is a more effective presentation of these eight songs than on the band's next record.
