I first heard about Me In Motion a few years ago from a long-time friend of the camp Bobby Schroeder and first got a listen to some of their tunes after my brother Dave Ralph spent some time hanging out with the band at a youth retreat somewhere a day’s drive away.
That their self-titled album and major label debut was just released in March seems a bit odd considering all of the buzz I’ve heard about the band for so long, but in the world of music things can sometimes materialize at a snail’s pace. It helps that the band have been regular road warriors in the past few years, playing about 150 shows a year opening for some of the biggest names in Christian music.
It’s not hard to figure out why so many well-known bands have brought these guys on tour with them when you hear their full-length album. It’s anything but a one-hit wonder (the previously released song “Loser” has become a bit of a hit on radio) with a bunch of other songs thrown together to fill an album. In fact, after repeated listens, there are probably at least three or four songs I’d request them to play live other than “Losers,” a spunky pop-punk infused tune with a message that reminds old Christian music heads like me of Steve Taylor’s “Jesus Is For Losers” of the early ’90s.
One of those is the heavy-rotation worthy “Seek Justice, Love Mercy,” a tune that as its title suggests uses a rock beat to turn Micah 6:8 into a “make a difference that lasts for eternity” anthem. Don’t be surprised if this song starts showing up as the soundtrack for missionary slideshows at your church or even at camp this summer.
On a similar but more subtle lyrical note, “Gotta Be Something” has one of those choruses that sticks in your head with the line “I’m finally finding out I don’t just wanna be fine, I gotta be something” and its “hey hey” back-up vocal flourishes. The message of the song, like much of the album reinforces movement – the movement of Christ in our lives (“You Move Me”), our movement in response to His call for repentance (“Back To You”) and the movement of living a life of love, service and mission.
It turns out Bobby and Dave were right: Me In Motion is a band worth watching for and one I can’t wait to see at Bodinestock III.
Purchase this album through Goodshop.com and Delanco Camp can get a percentage of the sale. Have a CD or book you’d like to review? E-mail matt.ralph@delanco.org.
