“Lonely Wheel” by The Almost, December 21, 2023

 

When Aaron Gillespie announced his solo project would be the band The Almost, it began with the Underoath drummer recording demos and uploading them to MySpace under the moniker The Almost. In 2006, while recording Define the Great Line, Gillespie started writing the album Southern Weather, which he would then take to Aaron Sprinkle and record in ten days, releasing the album in 2007. Gillespie played most of the instruments on the album. Before the release of Southern Weather, Gillespie formed a band to tour and promote the album, including Dusty Redmon and  Jay Vilardi on guitars, Alex Aponte on bass, and Kenny Bozisch on drums.

I GET IT, I NEED TO FALL. The Almost’s Southern Weather was a successful record released on both Tooth & Nail and Virgin Records. The lead single, “Say This Sooner” peaked at number 7 on the Alternative Airplay chart. The band’s second album, Monster Monster, was also jointly released through Tooth & Nail and Virgin Records.  Gillespie also turned to Aaron Sprinkle for The Almost's sophomore release to produce the album. Though drummer Kenny Bozisch had left the band, The Almost had become a band, and Gillespie didn’t need to record every instrument other than drums. While Monster Monster shows maturity in lyrical depth and musicality, the album had less crossover appeal compared to its predecessor. Guitarist Dusty Redmon recalls on The Rumors Are All True podcast that The Almost went from playing mostly secular venues to mostly Christian shows when touring Monster Monster. Many of the songs on the band’s sophomore album were explicitly Christian, though perhaps not as anthemic as the first album’s “Amazing, Because It Is” or as shame-ridden as “Dirty and Left Out.”

GOD, I KNOW IT’S GOOD TO YOU. If we look at the arch of Aaron Gillespie’s career, Monster Monster is the point in the artist’s career of beginning to double down on his role in the Christian music industry. Shortly after releasing The Almost’s sophomore record, Aaron Gillespie began writing worship music for what would become his debut solo record, Anthem Song. Gillespie considered worship music the genre in which he began his musical career. In fact, “Amazing, Because It Is” comes from a time when the Underoath drummer would lead worship with touring bands at the Warped Tour. While Gillespie’s public displays of Christianity may have been polarizing, he and his bandmates in Underoath forged many bonds in the scene. Maybe it was Gillespie’s drinking and cursing when fraternizing with other bands. But in 2010, Aaron announced his departure from Underoath to focus on The Almost and a worship career, beginning with 2011’s Anthem Song. Today’s song “Lonely Wheel” was the lead single from Monster Monster and the second track on the album. The lyrics talk about giving up a sinful life. The focus of the song is about having “one last drink” before completely surrendering to God. The song seems to deal with Gillespie’s struggles as he cleans up his life to fit into the CCM machine. “It may not be a sin to drink, but don’t be seen drinking because others will think of you as a drunk” is just an example of the late ‘00s Christian talk. The song reminds me of when I believed some of those tropes. I thought about how my beliefs could never align with my actions; how I could never bring someone else to Christ because I couldn’t explain my faith and I would always fall back into the sins of the flesh. It was certainly a lonely time at that age and realizing that every Christian deals with those feelings. 

Read “Lonely Wheel” by The Almost on Genius.