Something For the Rest of Us
Goo Goo Dolls (Warner Bros.)

You get about as much respect being a hit-making pop rock band these days as do moderate Republicans and Democrats calling for fiscal responsibility. The middle of the road may be a smart path to mainstream success, but you can find yourself being hit from both directions.

It was '95 or so when I first reviewed a Goo Goo Dolls concert (back when I was writing for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,) the Buffalo punk band was making a transition and it didn't go unnoticed.

The band had four previous hard rock and punk records, including a mild flirtation with pop success in "We Are the Normal" (from '93's "Superstar Car Wash"), which had lyrics written by The Replacements' Paul Westerberg, one of the Goo's heroes and major influences. But, "A Boy Named Goo" hinted at a move to more accessibility, marked by the band's breakthrough hit single, "Name."

While some fans want their best kept secret to breakout and become stars, many seem to hate the idea of sharing their favorite with the "no-nothing" late-comer masses, and it becomes especially awkward when it appears the band is leaning toward a broader more commercial sound.

Fans of punk, old-school country, blues, hardcore and hip-hop have this much in common, they tend to react poorly when a band or artists modifies toward the mainstream. That concert in '95 was punctuated by several angry "fans" who'd clearly paid the price of admission into the modest-sized rock club that was Mississippi Nights, just so they could heckle their former heroes as "sell outs."

Of course, the Goo Goo Dolls laughed it off, laughed it all the way to the bank, as the joke goes. Main singer, guitarist and songwriter, John Rzeznik would go on to write more huge hits, like the most memorable "Iris," taking the band from dark crowded clubs to major amphitheaters and arenas. More recent concerts feature a large light shows, and the string of hits that make up "Greatest Hits Volume One: The Singles" – a string of memorable pop songs and ballads made for romantic sing-alongs.

"Something For the Rest of Us," coming four years since the last studio effort, doesn't deviate from the clear formula established on '98's "Dizzy Up the Girl," in response to the success of "Name." Tender verses, big choruses, words of longing and love, all in a polished pop rock sound that guarantees some level of radio play.

Rzeznik sounds like the angsty heart-throb he's morphed into, and the band rocks with enough energy and skill to give the boys that girls drag to their concerts something to latch onto. Sorry if that sounds sexist, but the Goos have become the rock music equivalent of the popular chick flick. Not that that's a bad thing.

Beyond the obvious catchiness in Goo Goo Dolls music, the other feature that keeps me listening and thinking is the almost secular spirituality in the songs' themes. For instance, if I heard the new song "As I Am," say, on the latest from Christian rockers Jars of Clay or Third Day, I would assume the "you" was God. Given that it's the Goos, one assumes it's a love interest, but when I hear words like the ones here, it gives one wonder: "calling out for you again, you always find my way... you fill these empty days, and it's all because you take me as I am. You know I run to find the answer, but what I need to find is you... you kept me through the darkness, you kept me through the day."

I used to make fun of Christian artists that took out the God or Jesus lyrics and left it sung to or about some nebulous "you," so they could ostensibly sneak a Christian message onto a mainstream radio play-list. But what to make of artists like the Goo Goo Dolls who write about the yearning for love and connection with a human lover and friend that seems as though it is also a metaphor for something far greater, something more meaningful?

Well, it bespeaks my conviction that folk don't want to settle for the world alone that they can see and touch, but are drawn to something with greater purpose, a richer, more complete understanding of the human spirit. Deep calling to deep, as the scripture says.

In songs like "Home," "Notbroken," "Nothing Is Real," and "Still Your Song," Rzeznik—with bassist Robby Tabac (who always sings on a couple songs) and drummer Mike Malinin—celebrates the healing freedom to be found in power of love. If somewhat vague, it's the message of modern advertising: use this product and you'll find love and happiness. And for those sojourners still on the journey, still filled with anxiety and worry, the offer the assurance that we will have "One Night" when we can forget the "falling stars" and "let the whole world know ... who we are."

The Goo Goo Dolls probably never expected to be here all these years later. Would they have picked a band name like that if they were thinking about being together making music in mid-life? No, if they did they'd have gone with something like, I don't know, Aerosmith or ZZ Top. But they continue to write memorable songs that connect with the yearning of our times, and point to that "something you dream inside your head ... something I need to call my own."

The goal, it seems, is to be seen and loved and understood for who you really are. How is this different, I'm wondering, than what we say of faith in the Still-speaking God, the promise in Jesus' love and teaching, and the extravagant welcome of a church that is open to all?

Just saying.

Drawing Maps
Bonneville (Bonneville)

Wearing their 70's & 80's pop/rock influences on their sleeves proudly, Dayton-based Bonneville is ready to "bring the noise," with their latest indy release, "Drawing Maps."

Recorded with organic delight in the power of the rock to roll you, this quartet of highschool pals has grown into the kind of solid songwriters and entertaining performers that suggests they won't be a best-kept secret for long.

(I have to admit here, that drummer Nick Frye's family comes out of David's UCC where I serve, the band recorded the pianos for this album on or church's grand, and over the years they've done a few shows in our fellowship hall and parking lot—although they're a recent discovery for me.)

While they've produced a great, professional sounding record chock-full of memorable pop songs, they also bring a sense of immediacy and creativity that recalls the earliest days of rock & roll. With jangly guitars, vocal harmonies, punchy rhythms and accessible hooks, Bonneville writes and plays with a sense of the music's ability to lift and delight. It's a reminder of a time when rock & roll was good clean fun, an antidote for the malaise that pervades the current climate.

In the face of life's challenges, and the threats to love, they are "Bringing it Back" to life. The party music starts here. The band is playing around the midwest, Chicago and Ohio, and you can track down "Drawing Maps" on iTunes, and connect with the band on Facebook.


The Rev. Brian Q. Newcomb is Senior Minister at David's UCC in Kettering, Ohio, and a long-time music critic published in Billboard, CCM Magazine, Paste, The Riverfront Times and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, among others. Additional content from Brian is available in his Quincessentials blog at myUCC.