Send "Children 183 " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 It's been over two years since Children 18:3 took the punk world by storm with their Tooth & Nail debut, but they're finally back with a follow-up. The driving intro leads quickly into "Cover Your Eyes," where the three Hostetter siblings waste no time confirming they can still tear up a song at a blistering pace. She said RUN! But I'm not running… The courageous track with Seth's relentless rhythms and the trademark vocal tradeoff of David and Lee Marie is everything we've come to expect from the first record, yet it's possibly even a better song than anything we've heard so far.After reassuring us that they still have the old groove, Children 18:3 sets out at expanding their territory. Much of the rest of the album is not nearly so fast, and there's no ska vibe spin-offs like "The City" here, either. The siblings downshift just a notch into brisk rock numbers with big intense sounds. There's an instrumental interlude with a winding guitar riff that could have been lifted from a mewithoutYou album - although the track isn't nearly long enough. Adding to the mix is the acoustic "Oh Honestly," featuring some of the band's strongest lyrics to date: Oh, honestly, if you try to find a problem here, you probably will… So, listen to the wind blow over the branches / Listen to the waves crash on the shore / I don't have the big plan, just small glances / And every now and then I'm still unsure. David sings with passion, and the vocal duality with his younger sister has never been stronger. Lee Marie continues to delight with a charming array of background "oh-oh-ohs," and she still leads some vocals as well. Her highlight, "Oh Bravo," is nowhere near as frenetic as "LCM" or "Search Warrant," but it's overflowing with heartwarming lyrics and a gigantic sing-along chorus. The band says the album is about something big that's just on the horizon, and they admonish us to stand our ground and remain courageous in the face of uncertainty; even though it may look like desert now, Rain's A Comin'! Mainstream fans may not grasp the religious metaphors, but there's plenty of depth if you want to dig....full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| Even though this was promised to be bigger and badder than 2008’s self-titled effort, a song and intro song into the album you already get the feeling that it isn’t going to be. One main reason that this bad has always given me a weird vibe is because lead singer David and lead hot chick Leemarie are into the makeup and goth part of playing punk rock but their brother, Seth (who is a beast behind the kit) isn’t really into the whole artsy part of it, in fact he’d just rather put on a wife beater and let his arms flail about as they all jam out. A couple months ago before the title of the album was even released there was speculation whether or not Seth was even going to be involved on this album due to a misdirecting Tweet that turned out to be nothing, so far. While Rain’s A Comin is almost as fun and perky as its predecessor it just doesn’t hold up to the quality of songs that they wrote for their first album. One of the moves with this album that was displeasing was instead of using the prior dual male-female vocals, they moved to more of a dominant male vocal with the female vocals being used harmoniously. Since Leemarie seemed to take more of a part in their first album, her somewhat missed presence in this album was a slight letdown. All of the songs are of the same structure and basic sound from the last album, not differing much in variety from their self-titled effort. The song titles from this album could have been better written however. At tracks six and seven you find two tracks in a row that start with “Oh” which is not only repetitive but very drab and unoriginal. The album itself is just slightly shorter in length than their other album as well which is promising because some of their longer songs can seem to drag on but the good songs are the one that range in the two and a half to three minute realm....full text |
| Reviewrinserepeat |
| The idea of a Christian punk band may seems a bit paradoxical. The genre has been more than just musical, but also a form of identity, a lifestyle viewpoint that rejects institutions whether religious or governmental (or “The Man”), and supports rebellion. However, there is a band of siblings by the name of Children 18:3 that defies the stereotypes of the genre by clinging hard to their faith openly, which of course is reflected in their music. With their latest album Rain’s a Comin’, their purpose is no less apparent. The album itself is 12 fairly basic, and unfortunately unoriginal tracks that sound like it was born at the start of the punk reign circa 1985, adding a tad more power musically, and a bit more modernity to the production. Other than that, there’s not much difference between Rain’s a Comin’, and any other punk band. Now, there are certainly some impressive guitar licks, and the drumming by Seth Hostetter can get pretty intense at times, but overall there’s not much worth shouting. The beginning songs of the album hit hard and fast with no remorse. The title and lead-off track is a simple, but effective anthem, but is only brief (one minute and thirty seconds). “Cover Your Eyes” is more intense, with a riff that would get even the laziest of bums off their seat Lead vocalist and guitarist David Hostetter has a voice that demands your attention. The songwriting is very straight-forward, which is not always a good thing. Just before the chorus, Hostetter sings gently “cover your eyes”, over one strum of a clean tone, then the chorus “she said run, but no, I’m not running, no, I’m not running!” Unfortunately, the suspense is short-lived. The next track begins an uphill battle that just can’t be won. As each next track sounds too much like the previous one (with the exception of the musical interlude “Whispering”), there isn’t much hope at building a solid and original musical foundation. Rain’s a Comin is a fun and fairly inspirational album to listen to, but doesn’t have much more to give, as the surfaced songwriting isn’t greatly appealing....full text |
Children 183 lyrics
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