Friday, December 17 2010 7:00 PM
All Ages $20.00
Lincoln Hall
Sometimes the best way to deal with a break-up is to write a batch of great songs about it, turn up the amplifiers and just rock out.
Think of enduring classics – from Liz Phair’s Exile In Guyville to Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine to Beck’s Sea Change – and how they achieved musical catharsis from the crumbling walls and crossbeams of a relationship gone bad.
On their latest release, Forget And Not Slow Down, Relient K carry the break-up album into the 21st century, tweaking it with clear-eyed songwriting and a four-to-the-floor optimism that is positively refreshing. Yes, there’s sweet sorrow in “If You Believe Me.” And yes, there’s lingering nostalgia in “Part Of It” and “Savannah.” There’s even the occasional recrimination, as in the bitter sting of “I Don’t Need A Soul” and “Over It.” But when it comes to regret, lead singer and songwriter Matt Thiessen is not one to wallow.
As he sings on the rousing title track, “I'd rather forget and not slow down than gather regret for the things I can't change now.”
Not that it doesn’t take some effort of will. As Thiessen says, “It’s hard to forget and move on emotionally, but sometimes it’s better for you. You have to keep the bigger picture in mind. If you’re feeling sorry for yourself or reflecting on things that aren’t good, you’re not being productive. So to move forward is to concentrate on ‘What can I do better?’ That’s the whole idea of the record.”
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