"Get a Little Weird" by Number One Gun, Saturday, May 15, 2021

Number One Gun was a band that was always around in the Christian Rock scene, but never seemed to be anyone's favorite band. From 2007-2014, the band became a solo project for Jeff Schneeweis. Former band members went on to form the band Surrogate, but also contributed to the NOG's last album This Is All We Know, which is still shrouded in controversy. The episode of the podcast Don't Feed the Trolls called "Band Brotherhood," features a fun conversation with Number One Gun's former guitarist, Chris Keene, where he dishes on the lead singer Jeff Schneeweis and his failure to deliver on Kickstarter pledges. Several other members from other bands have talked about Number One Gun as the example of what not to do in a Kickstarter campaign. All in all, it's a pretty sad way to end a career in Christian Rock.

I GIVE IT UP TO YOU, I NEED A NEW LIFE. When I'm feeling nostalgic, I can sit in bed and try to remember every band that had a hit on RadioU. Number One Gun was a band that was always there. In fact, when I read the book by Spin Magazine writer, Andrew Beaujon Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock, Beaujon visits Tooth & Nail's headquarters and in the basement, Number One Gun is recording what Beaujon said is a sappy, generic pop sound (if I remember correctly). Sappy and generic. Sometimes you need the grilled cheese on white bread and American cheese of music. That's what Number One Gun is. Their early hits like "We Are" and "The Starting Line" are pretty much that. However, to Schneeweis's credit, I think that Gun's music significantly improves with his last two albums, To the Secrets and Knowledge and This Is All We Know. The latter having guest spots by Sarah Ann from seeyousoon and Stephen Christian of Anberlin. But, as with a lot of Christian Rock, you may be scratching your head wondering what the hell the lyrics mean. Case in point, who is "you" in this song? "I give it up to you, I need a new life" seems to imply God. But "I could see what you bring / False hope and fear" seems to imply the devil.

WILL I HAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE THE SUN RISE. I grew up post-dc talk Jesus Freak, an album that defined '90s Christian Rock and on which 2000s Christian Rock furthered. Nineties Christian Rock was all about the big three bands dc talk, Audio Adrenaline, and Newsboys, and all three bands were radical in their countercultural message. Audio Adrenaline declared "you can take a stand in your Public school," the Newsboys said "take 'em to your leader son," and dc talk asked, "What would people think if they knew that I'm a Jesus Freak? What would people do if they find that it's true?" In 2001, Skillet told their followers to "grab all the freaks and let's go" as they "took over the world... the alien youth." Mute Math, when they were still a Christian band, echoed the Apostle Paul in saying they were a "Peculiar People." In Christian subculture, weirdness was a virtue and it was coupled with an abrasive attitude toward everyone who wasn't Christian or really Christian (aka evangelical). Eventually weirdness in Christian Rock led to embracing punk/alternative styles. Bands could be "freaks" in their style choices. These bands could play the martyr card when both the mainstream world and more conservative Christians mocked or condemned them. And how did weirdness play out for Christian kids? I can't speak for everyone, but being "set apart from the world" and expecting to be rejected by peers that were either a) directly of the world or b) Christians who were too much of the world was a lonely confirmation that I was on the right path. While my peers were having fun, I sat at home becoming more and more introverted. I didn't know how to cultivate any social skills. I was terrified of being led astray, and in most situations with other people, I was too weird. 

https://genius.com/Number-one-gun-get-a-little-weird-lyrics