"Savior's Robes" by Yellowcard, Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Yellowcard belongs on a soundtrack for my teenage summer, but today's track is not a typical sounding Yellowcard song. In 2004 one of my summer songs was "Ocean Avenue" from the band's major label debut of the same name. They became known as the pop-punk band with the crazy electric violin, especially in their first three records. The band was a massively successful Florida punk band that impacted pop and rock radio, following in the footsteps of bands like Good Charolette, Simple Plan, and New Found Glory. The band's success with mainstream radio and MTV faded and they started to lack originality by their third record. However, the band's second act saw more complex lyricism and instrumentality. The band remained in the scene until breaking up in in 2018, releasing their self-titled record in 2016. "Savior's Robes" is track 9 of 10 on the album whose artwork seems to be anti-sun/summer and good times music found in the early days of Yellowcard.

I WONDER IF YOU CAN RECALL MY NAME. Opening with a heavy distorted guitar and drums and an uncharacteristically angry sounding lead singer Ryan Key, "Savior's Robes," sounds like it's a dis-track to some bad blood in the band's history. Yellowcard had a series of member shake-ups, some of which were bitter. The reference to "a devil in a savior's robes" sounds eerily religious. Key had been a member of the Tooth & Nail band Craig's Brother, and as a Florida band in punk/pop-punk had been around a lot of the early 2000s Tooth & Nail bands, according to Key's interview on Lead Singer Syndrome. Interestingly, Yellowcard's plan to call it quits seemed to echo fellow Florida rock band Anberlin, who also released a farewell album and performed a farewell tour in 2014. Anberlin's drummer, Nate Young, performed on the final two Yellowcard albums. This collaboration turned me be back on to Yellowcard after deleting their third album from my Apple library years ago. Today's song is fun, aggressive, and not all what to expect as a first song in a playlist. It's long. It seems to end before picking up speed. It sits well as a middle album track. But just as it's not a typical opener, it's not a typical summer. It's cloudy and COVID is making us forget what normal is.

YOU TOOK MY EDGE, SHARPENED IT IN CASE. This song reminds me of the grungier days of RadioU. Christian music seemed to skip grunge's first wave with the exception of Skillet's first album and maybe some old Third Day, but there were a few examples for grunge's second wave: Since October, Lucerin Blue, East West. This song sounds more like it's channelling that sound than the upbeat teens on Ocean Avenue. One line I found interesting: "You're a devil in a savior's robe / Made it easier to let you go / I never should have let you get so close."  It's easy to let a devil go once you realize they are one, but the savior's robe allows that person to get close. Is this a metaphor for a friend who betrays or literally about an experience with someone who uses piety as a way to draw others in. Is it the music industry? Is it the "cool Christian" youth groups? Is it the festivals that the band played alongside Christian bands? It's a very icky feeling when you're swindled by the oily Bible salesman. It's quite a common story, and I have quite a few from working for a church school. Still, it's an even ickier feeling when they try to swindle people who don't believe it. It's actually quite embarrassing, or at least it was. No wonder why people are so programed against religion.

 

Read “Savior's Robes” by Yellowcard on Genius