Description
Wakin’ Up the Dead is an album by the American alternative rock band Lifesavers Underground (a.k.a. L.S.U.), released on Blonde Vinyl Records in 1989. (This was the second album to be released by Blonde Vinyl Records.) The album was recorded by Greg Heil at Casbah Studio in Fullerton, California; with Michael Knott producing. Originally released on cassette only but digitally remastered by Doug Doyle and re-issued on CD by Blonde Vinyl in 1992, distributed by Spectra Distribution. All songs written by Michael Knott who also painted the cover artwork.
Featuring Michael Knott on vocals and guitars and a rhythm section consisting of Michael Sauerbrey on bass and background vocals and Kevin Lee Annis on drums and percussion. (Additional musicians include bassist Jamie J. Makarczyk and drummer Neal Vorndran. “I Need You So” as well features a guitar solo by Dave Koval of Breakfast With Amy fame.) Demo versions of “Revival Nineties” and “Wakin’ Up the Dead” is available on Bomb Bay Babies – Volume 1.
Originally released in 1989 on cassette only, this rare follow up to 1987’s breakthrough album Shaded Pain marked the beginning of Blonde Vinyl Records and a new standard for labels in the Christian underground.
In one form or another, L.S.U. has been around Christian music since 1981. Now they pull into the ’90s with an independent release, their first set of new music since 1987s ‘Shaded Pain‘. Here Mike Knott and company continue to explore the edges of progressive hard rock.
«House of Love» possesses a ’60s psychedelic feel and expresses a movement from a life (house) without God to a life with Him, the meaning transported on the image of a “house of love”. Raucous and noisy, the music undergirds the spiritual movement as a struggle. The title tune also has a noisy and disjointed sound at the end, to underscore the excitement of those dead finding life.
On theme that runs throughout several songs is that of spiritual death. «Come Alive Again» beckons to one to rekindle what his parents had while «Wakin’ Up the Dead» is a call to us to reach out to those (ourselves included) who are the “dead and cold/ to the spiritual soiled.”
A second concern is that of the immediate future, the next ten years. «Revival Nineties» refers to a common gift and calls it a time to shout out how one feels, a time to share what you have. While not specifically speaking of God, the inference is nonetheless there. This of optimism is challenged by «Nineties Tease», in which the singer reminds us that things could simply stay as they have been, with a progression towards more of the same – Japan continues to buy more of America, the new age will rage on and Christianity will be represented by the same brand of preachers that have fallen in the ’80s. But more damaging and possible prophetic is the idea of a revocation of the Church’s exempt status.
Knott has a way of writing cryptic lyrics, ones that give the listener many challenges similar to a reading of John Donne. The meanings are directly related to what each person brings to the words and interprets them. He uses the second person to the extent that the reference is cloudy – is he speaking of another person or of God? Songs like «The Bomb» and «Ocean Blue» provide opportunities for deciphering, while «Carry Me to Cairo» and «The Kettle» use Biblical imagery and references to frame a larger meaning. (Available from Spring Arbor, #0001388894) [Dan Kennedy, CCM, July 1990]
Six years ago, L.S.U./LifeSavers leader Michael Knott released ‘Shaded Pain‘ to an adoring cadre of critics but an even smaller circle of fans. The album took a stark look at the band’s struggle with internal problems, as well as challenging the hypocrisies of the modern church, and did so with a graphic lyrical approach. That left his record company’s promotion department wondering how to sell the brooding music to Christian radio. So, when no airplay equalled zero commercial success, Knott severed ties with his label and went into semi-seclusion for awhile, no doubt wondering how good an album he had to make before people would purchase mass quantities.
Knott resurfaced with L.S.U. at Cornerstone ’89, and brought with him ‘Wakin’ Up The Dead’, the only release under the original Blonde Vinyl imprint. Although many folks initially expressed some disappointment that it was not equal to the brilliant ‘Shaded Pain’, hindsight and a digital remastering job now reveal that ‘Wakin’ is a far better album than many first thought. Indeed, ‘Wakin’ is actually a nice compromise between the darker nature of ‘Shaded Pain’ and the somewhat slighter album that last year’s ‘This Is The Healing‘ turned out to be. Much of the printed commentary Knott offers on ‘Wakin’ still applies in 1992. The clever wordplay of «The Bomb» will leave you scratching your head, while your solar plexus is punched by its musical power; «Touch» is a wonderful song about yearning for God’s love; «Carry Me To Cairo» and «Dancin’ In The Kettle» are two very literal Bible stories, an unusual approach for Knott, while «Nineties Tease» and the title track cry out for the cleansing of God’s spirit in these decadent times. If you’ve got the original lo-fi cassette of ‘Wakin’ Up The Dead’, shell out for the CD. You’ll hear this underrated album as you never have before. [Bruce A. Brown, Harvest Rock Syndicate, Issue 2, Volume 7]
CD tracklist:
01. The Bomb – 4:01
02. Ocean Blue – 3:37
03. Touch – 2:55
04. House of Love – 2:52
05. Revival Nineties – 3:40
06. Carry Me To Cairo – 3:06
07. Come Alive Again – 4:08
08. Dancin’ In The Kettle – 3:09
09. I Need You So – 3:25
10. Nineties Tease – 1:32
11. Wakin’ Up The Dead – 3:51
Note: Originally released on cassette only. Re-issued on CD by Blonde Vinyl Records in 1992. Re-released again in 1999 on M8 records with extra tracks; live recordings (#12-18 are live from Cornerstone 1991 and #19-21 are live from Cornerstone 1993). Available at Bandcamp: https://lsunderground.bandcamp.com/album/wakin-up-the-dead
Wakin’ Up The Dead (Remaster 2018): https://blondevinyl.bandcamp.com/album/wakin-up-the-dead-remaster-2018
A full-page advertisement for various releases on Michael Knott’s indie label Blonde Vinyl Records, including Wakin’ Up the Dead by Lifesavers Underground, was featured in the April 1992 issue of CCM Magazine.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.