Grandmother's Spaceship
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''Grandmother's Spaceship'' the third a studio album by pioneer Christian punk band
Scaterd Few Scaterd Few was a Christian punk band originating from Burbank, California. ''CCM'' magazine described their music as "pure punk for dread people," stating that it was a cross between Jane's Addiction and Charlie Mingus. History ''Sin Disease' ...
. Lyrically the album is themed, referencing "
aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...
, the cyber-age and other extra-terrestrial things," while staying centered on the ultimate truth of renewed life in Christ. Several lyrics draw their themes directly from scripture. Musically it is more diverse than most punk albums, encompassing reggae, aggressive punk, funk, and a "slight Gothic overtone" similar to Allan's alternate band,
Spy Glass Blue Spy Glass Blue is an American post-punk/ new wave/Britpop band formed by Allan Aguirre of Scaterd Few, credited for legitimizing and authenticating the post-punk genre in Christian alternative music (ACM) much in the same way that Scaterd Few ...
. While at least one critic thought the album "failed to capture the essence" that '' Sin Disease'' displayed, most reviews were positive. The album was written over two years and recorded in three weeks.


Lyrical themes

Lyrically, the album paints a cohesive picture of mankind in a technological society. According to Allan because man is separated from God and so has lost his true identity. In this unnatural state mankind tends toward
pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
activities, destroying himself through his
vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
s, in an attempt to find his true identity. This condition is exacerbated by the conditions of the 21st century - a world of
information overload Information overload (also known as infobesity, infoxication, or information anxiety) is the difficulty in understanding an issue and Decision making, effectively making decisions when one has too much information (TMI) about that issue, and is ...
where "
Major Tom Major Tom is a persona of David Bowie, referenced in the songs "Space Oddity", " Ashes to Ashes", " Hallo Spaceboy", " Blackstar" and more. Bowie's own interpretation of the character evolved throughout his career. "Space Oddity" (1969) depict ...
is now an info monk." Humans are said to be a "Species filled with
anti-matter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter, and can be thought of as matter with reversed charge and parity, or going backward in time ...
." Perhaps the clearest expression of this idea is in "Bobby's Song," which tells the story of a family preparing to leave
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
by way of
alien abduction Alien abduction (also called abduction phenomenon, alien abduction syndrome, or UFO abduction) refers to the phenomenon of people reporting what they assure to be the real experience of being kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings and subje ...
. The story is similar to that of the Heaven's Gate cult; one reviewer describes this as "the story of humankind's misplaced yearning for extraordinary salvation from all sources other than the Universal King." The album's answer is that Christ can restore man to his natural state of communion with God. Allan speaks directly to the world in pleading "Wake up, sleeper!" (echoing
Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Traditionally believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62 during his imprisonment in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians closely resembles Colossians ...
5:14, on "Lullaby") and drawing from
Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...
1:17 in "Win The Fisher" ("If you follow me, I'll make you fisher's of men.") In Christ Agiurre offers "Death! Where is your sting?!" (from, "Incorruptible",
1 Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in Anc ...
15:55) as a triumphant victory cry over the corruption world. ''Grandmother's'' space theme has been interpreted in two related ways: that believers are "not of this world," and that
the world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...
increasingly alienates believers as unwelcome. In this vein "As The Story Grows V.2" is a continuation of the theme set forth on "As The Story Grows" ('' Sin Disease''), and "Space Junk" is most exploratory. These songs restate both questions posed to believers by the outside world (such as "How can you believe in a God that would let small children suffer?"), and the world's angry reply back to Christians ("We love the smell of hell / How dare you try to tell us that / He died to set us free / ...Take your cross and let us be".) The album also contains elements of
praise and worship music Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a distinct genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has evolved over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are of ...
, albeit in a punk fashion, which was, according to Aguirre, "a very conscious decision." The best of these are probably "Splendor" and "Arbitrator", which draws from
Psalm 139 Psalm 139 is the 139th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me". In Latin, it is known as . The psalm is a hymn psalm. Attributed to David, it is known for its af ...
, and was remade by Spy Glass Blue on their 2003 release '' The Blue EP''.


Track listing

# "Intro" # "Space Junk" # "Lullaby" # "Win The Fisher" # "Arbitrator" # "Future Love" # "Species" # "Incorruptible" # "Vanishing" # "Vanishing Outro" # "Suspension My Love" # "Bobby's Song" # "Twinkling Of An Eye" # "Worm Hole" # "Splendor" # "As The Story Grows (v.2)" # "Tomorrow"


Credits

*Allan Aguirre:
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
Acoustic Guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
,
Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...
*Russell Archer:
Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
, Special Effect, Keyboard, Background Vocals *Steve Martens:
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
*Steven Meigs:
Bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
Also Featuring: *Cristina Aguirre: Background Vocals in "Vanishing" *Corin Aguirre: as Bobby in "Bobby's Song" *Lee Harbaugh:
Trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
*Diane Morren: as Grandmother in "Bobby's Song" *Joshua Pyle: Keyboards, Sampling


References


External links

*Hard Music Magazin
interview with Allan Aguirre
{{Authority control 1998 albums Scaterd Few albums