Kissers and Killers

After the tour for Circle Slide was completed, the Choir and Myrrh Records parted ways, and the band fractured, with individual members pursuing other creative opportunities.[2] Hindalong began producing other artists, including the Prayer Chain and Ric Alba, former bass guitarist for the Altar Boys.[3] Saxophone and Lyricon player Dan Michaels recorded his solo EP Reveal, then began playing sax on tour for mainstream contemporary Christian performers Bryan Duncan and Crystal Lewis.[2] Lead singer and guitarist Derri Daugherty co-founded the Lost Dogs, a "supergroup" of lead singers from the foremost Christian alternative rock bands: Daugherty from the Choir, Terry Taylor from Daniel Amos, Michael Roe from the 77's and Gene Eugene from Adam Again.[3] The group's first album, Scenic Routes, was released in 1991.

Although the Choir had consistently voiced their frustrations over lack of Christian radio play and mainstream distribution,[4][5] the band was still perceived as "leaders in the expanding Christian alternative scene."[6] As a result, Myrrh's parent company, Word Records, came to Daugherty and offered him a production deal and a new label, as Word was trying to bolster its roster of modern artists.[3] "I remember thinking that as far as we’d come, we should either do this label together or the band would probably fall apart," Daugherty said.[3] Glasshouse Records was founded, and would release projects from Alba, the Throes, John Austin and blues artist Reverend Dan Smith.[3]

One of the most significant projects the Choir worked on during this period was At the Foot of the Cross, Volume One: Clouds, Rain, Fire, which was arguably the first "modern worship" album, a concept that would later become popular in Christian music throughout the 2000s.[7][8][3] Although the album featured such notable contributors as Phil Keaggy, Bob Bennett, Buddy and Julie Miller and Michael Knott, the album sold poorly, likely due to the Choir's dogged artistic commitment:[9] "'Beautiful Scandalous Night' […] is a Christian radio song if we’ve ever written one," Hindalong said. "And it's sincere and from the heart; nothing phony about it. And we could have brought it home, production-wise. But no, we had to put that backwards guitar loop in there, and get a good backbeat on the snare."[10] This proved costly, and the album quickly went out of print.[9]

Even with their own imprint at their disposal, the Choir opted instead to record a collection of demos that they could independently shop around to mainstream record labels,[11] and after a year and a half of playing clubs, the band even considered changing their name to Kissers and Killers.[12] The Choir played showcases of their new material in New York City and Los Angeles, and although three labels expressed interest (I.R.S. Records, Geffen Records and Fiction Records), all three ultimately passed, being unwilling to market a band in their early thirties to a teenage-focused Lollapalooza audience.[13] "In retrospect, it would have been smarter to put out another Choir record on Glasshouse and build the company," Hindalong recounted, "but we really believed we had to take that chance. Besides, I just wanted to hear my songs on the radio."[14]

Bass guitarist Tim Chandler officially returned to the band lineup with "rekindled enthusiasm" for this album,[15] and Kissers and Killers was recorded at Daugherty's Neverland Studios in Cerritos, California in 1992, just after the At the Foot of the Cross worship album was completed.[16] The song "Let the Sky Fall" was built upon tracks recorded in 1990, as it was originally intended for Circle Slide; however, the band and A&R rep Tom Willett agreed it didn't fit with the tone of that album, so it was finished for Kissers and Killers instead.[17]

This would be the last album the band would record in Southern California, before Daugherty, Hindalong and Michaels chose to move across the country to Nashville, Tennessee in the latter part of 1993.[3] The contemporary Christian music industry was centered there, which presented more opportunities for the band members to work with other artists; the cost of living also was less expensive, and it was a central location for touring.[13]

All of the songs on this album, with the exception of "Let the Sky Fall," would later be remixed at the new Neverland Studios in Nashville for release as part of the band's next album Speckled Bird.

Kissers and Killers was released independently on CD and cassette in March 1993. According to Hindalong, only 6,300 copies were made.[15]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Notebored	Favorable[30]
Cross Rhythms	[31]
AllMusic	[32]

Kissers and Killers was received well upon initial release. In the lead review for the July/August 1993 issue of Notebored, critic Steven L. Roth highlighted the impact of 1990s-era rock by stating that the album was "buried under a little more reverb and distortion than what they’ve recorded in the past, indicating a faint signal of how far and wide the 'industrial revolution' has spread." On the shift in lyrical focus, Roth added that "it is on Kissers and Killers that this tangled and painfully real representation of the little thing we call love is further expanded and scrutinized," and praised Hindalong's "resistance to conventionality" for "juxtaposing apples and oranges in an effort to avoid anything remotely close to a cliché."[30] Liz Liew, writing for Cross Rhythms, said that on Kissers and Killers, "Derri's guitar effects are more expressive, pronounced and creative," and added that the album should give the Choir a "well-deserved break with a mainstream label."[31]

Retrospective reviews have also been favorable. Writing for Allmusic, critic Darryl Cater called Kissers and Killers "a pretty polished indie album, and […] also one of their most aggressive. The familiar melodic pop sensibility is still audible, but Derri Daugherty's amiable vocals are surrounded by his growling and hissing guitars. It makes for an interesting combination."[32] Mark Allan Powell, writing in the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, called the album's eight songs "little more than an EP," but highlighted that "'Yellow Skies' and 'Weather Girl' have a harder edge musically than most of The Choir's material. On the latter tune, Daugherty tries to copy Neil Young and ends up producing the best guitar sounds of his career."[4]

All lyrics by Steve Hindalong and all music by Derri Daugherty, unless otherwise noted.

Footnotes

Bibliography