February 2, 2000

If I Left The Zoo

There are many things to write songs about. But surely God has to be about the least entertaining and rock'n'roll of subjects....

1 / 10 There are many things to write songs about. But surely God has to be about the least entertaining and rock'n'roll of subjects.

Nothing against The Man himself, but you don't want your pop stars doing a job better suited to your parents and teachers. We love pop stars precisely because they lead us astray.

So you'll hate the bunch of Christian-rocking Yanks that are Jars Of Clay. In opener 'Unforgetful You', singer Dan Haseltine is already preaching, "You never minded giving us the stars/And then showing us how blind and unaware of You we are", and it only gets worse from there. Mainly because, even if you can forgive the lyrics, JOC are deathly dull. They plod over the same ground covered by Counting Crows and Del Amitri and occasionally rock out with similar insipid maturity. The only comfort is that, though this will sell bucketloads in America, it won't even smell success here.

But it's no