Beyond The Turntable

It's not often that a band makes a joint label debut with both mainstream and Christian labels, but needtobreathe is doing just that. It's even rarer that a band features brothers named after a legendary sports figure, but needtobreathe's singer/guitarist is Bear Rinehart and the other guitarist is his brother Bryant, who goes by Bo. Those boys were destined to play football, and sho' nuf', Bear ended up holding several records as the top wide receiver in Furman's history. He's moved on to records of another kind; Daylight will ensure that more people hear Bear's music than ever watched him play college football.

Daylight will frustrate you if you're looking for a weak link--one tune after another brings out great hooks and demands to stick in your head. Suddenly the album is over and you still haven't found a subpar song. English producer Andy Green (Keane) knows how to capture that European sound so popular with fans of Coldplay and like-minded bands. However, unlike Keane's piano-driven guitarless approach, needtobreathe has twin guitars driving their sound. The lyrics tend to convey truth and a positive message even in songs about struggles, but are not explicitly Christian.

Daylight's sound has drawn comparisons to The Killers and Maroon5; anyone who likes guitar-based pop rock with big hooks will find a new friend in needtobreathe.

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