Mmhmm by Relient K (2004)

Mmhmm (2004)
1. The One I’m Waiting For – 3:02
2. Be My Escape – 4:00
3. High of 75 – 2:27
4. I So Hate Consequences – 4:01
5. The Only Thing Worse Than Beating a Dead Horse Is Betting on One – 1:13
6. My Girl’s Ex-Boyfriend – 2:28
7. More Than Useless – 3:50
8. Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet? – 4:11
9. Let It All Out – 4:21
10. Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been – 3:52
11. Maintain Consciousness – 2:52
12. This Week the Trend – 2:59
13. Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II) – 4:23
14. When I Go Down – 6:42

For my first review, I decided to do Relient K’s Mmhmm simply because it is a perfect album to start off the spring season. Trust me, this is something you will want to listen to with the windows rolled down and the sun shining brightly through your windshield. It also helps that Relient K is one of my favorites. If Mmhmm doesn’t hook you straight away, perhaps pop rock isn’t the right genre for you. But with music and lyrics that are very tastefully done, this Christian band does it right.

The album starts off on a high note, with the happy go lucky “The One I’m Waiting For.” The catchy vocal by Matt Thiessen will instantly grab your attention with this song about a girl who “can break a heart / [she’s] like a work of art.”   The song could also be interpreted as a nice guy falling for a slutty girl, but we won’t go there. ;) Other tracks with an upbeat feel are “Be My Escape,” “High of 75,” and “My Girl’s Ex-Boyfriend.”

Toward the second half of the album, you will find the lyrics become more in depth. In “I So Hate Consequences,” Thiessen sings about dealing with mistakes and letting a person you love down. “Which To Bury, Us or the Hatchet” talks of a relationship gone badly and “Life After Death and Taxes” is about failure. “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been,” one of the two singles off the album, is a song most people can relate to: human growth and hating the person you were before this change occurred. Other tracks like this are “More Than Useless” and “This Week the Trend.”

Songs like “Let It All Out” and “Maintain Consciousness” may at first seem like casual throwaway tracks, but after a few listens they become just as captivating as the rest of the album. “Maintain Consciousness” is probably my least favorite track, but is a fun song nonetheless. “Let It All Out” is the slowest track on the album, and is quite uplifting with lines like, "the end will justify the pain it took to get us there," but yet the tone of the song remains somber throughout.

“When I Go Down” has its own little blurb, because this song in many ways touched my heart. With lyrics like “I've thrown away so many things that could've been much more / and I just pray my problems go away if they're ignored,” it is impossible not to connect to this song. The message of the song is no matter how hard you fall, no matter how many issues you have, the man upstairs will be there for you. The lyrics are inspiring and perfectly written, and the musicianship on this track is rather beautiful. This song is a great end to an amazing record.

Everything comes together really nicely on this album, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Recommended Tracks: Who I Am Hates Who I've Been, My Girl's Ex-Boyfriend
Rating: 5/5