Relient K

Relient K
Studio album by Relient K
Released	April 25, 2000
Genre	Christian pop punk, Christian rock, Pop punk
Length	46:40
Label	Gotee
Producer	Mark Lee Townsend, Toby McKeehan, Todd Collins, Joey Elwood
Professional reviews
Jesus Freak Hideout link Exit Zine link HM Magazine[1]
Relient K chronology
2000 A.D.D. (2000) Relient K (2000) The Creepy EP (2001)

Relient K is the first full-length album released by Christian rock band Relient K. Many of the tracks are newer versions of those found on their 1998 demo All Work and No Play. Typical of early Relient K albums, the lyrics use pop culture references for teaching and to illustrate Biblical principles.^[2] As of late 2006/early 2007, this album has sold around 400,000 copies.

Track listing

1. "Hello McFly" – 2:49
2. "My Girlfriend" – 2:47
3. "Wake Up Call" – 3:19
4. "Benediction" – 1:39
5. "When You're Around" – 2:02
6. "Softer to Me" – 3:22
7. "Charles in Charge" – 2:39
8. "Staples" – 2:59
9. "Anchorage" – 0:22
10. "17 Magazine" – 3:06
11. "Balloon Ride" – 2:58
12. "Everything Will Be" – 3:31
13. "Nancy Drew" – 2:48
14. "K Car" – 12:12

Credits

• Matt Thiessen – lead vocals, guitar
• Matt Hoopes – guitar, backing vocals
• Brian Pittman – bass
• Stephen Cushman – drums, backing vocals

Notes and miscellanea

• At the end of "Hello McFly", Toby McKeehan (tobyMac) calls Matt Thiessen, telling him that a song about Marilyn Manson will never be on a CD put out by Gotee Records (the call is followed by "My Girlfriend", a song about Marilyn Manson). McKeehan is the president of Gotee Records, and the one who signed Relient K to a record deal after hearing their demo.
• The hidden track after "K Car" is entitled "Punk Rock Picnic" - Relient K's "Call Us Rock Stars" with various quotes dubbed over and then music from a polka concert at the end.^{[citation needed]}
• The song "anchorage" is the only Relient K song to begin with a lowercase letter, and is the only Relient K song that has absolutely no vocals.
• Pre-release copies of the album feature a short track called "Ed Sullivan" which was excluded from the release version.^{[citation needed]}
• In the song "K Car", there's a line that says "And Brandon Ebel just gave us a call". ^[3] Brandon Ebel is the founder of the Christian record label Tooth & Nail Records.

Pop culture and Biblical references

• "Hello McFly" refers to the Back to the Future trilogy, in which the main character was named Marty McFly. Similar to the movie, the song is about the inability to change one's past.^[2]
• "Charles in Charge" was a cover of the theme from the TV series of the same name.^[2]
• "17 Magazine" refers to the magazine of the same name.^[2]
• "Nancy Drew" refers to the series of children's mysteries with the main character of the same name. This song also mentions The Hardy Boys, the brother series to Nancy Drew.^[2]
• "K Car" refers to the Plymouth Reliant K, based on the K Car platform, for which the band is named.
• At the end of the polka music that makes up the second half of the hidden track, the man playing that just finished playing the polka music asks the audience if they've heard his song on the radio about the Cleveland Browns. It also features a recording of a Reliant K starting up in the intro.
• "My Girlfriend" draws parallels to 1 Peter 5:8, where the Devil is portrayed as a Lion waiting to devour lives.^[2] Several transtations of 1 Peter 5:8. It also references rock band Marilyn Manson and their song The Beautiful People.

References