Thousand Foot Krutch started in Peterborough Ontario, where front man Trevor McNevan started the band with friends Steve Augustine and Joel Bruyere. McNevan came up with the name Thousand Foot Krutch through his beliefs that God is like a crutch, even when your problems are a thousand feet high.
TFK as they are more commonly known as, produced their first full length album in 1998 independently,
Thats What People Do is no longer in print. In 2000 they released
Set It Off and that made them a hit on the christian rock circuit. Tracks “Supafly” and “Puppet” had moderate radio play on christian rock stations, however most of TFK’s popularity came from word of mouth, and self promotion. This album has hip-hop influence, rap, and nu-metal sounds.
For Set it Off Thousand Foot Krutch is:
Trevor McNevan- vocals/guitar
Steve Augustine- drums
Joel Bruyere- bass
The album opens with Augustine jamming on the drums and McNevan starting to sing “Hold up! wait a minute, know what's goin on when Krutch is in it.Move Over! beg yah pardon.. KRUTCH GONNA GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!". Then after he sings this once Bruyere kicks in with the bass. Then McNevan repeats it and after the second time he starts playing the guitar. Making this a killer intro for “Puppet”. “Puppet” is an amazing track where the band is able to mix hip hop and rock, a truly amazing clash that doesn’t take away anything from either genre, in fact they compliment each other. “Supafly” is another great track about respecting yourself and members of the opposite sex, and about watching out for gold diggers. Again the switching between genres in the middle of the song is amazing. The chorus to this song is definetly catchy.
“When in Doubt” is a great track, it opens up much more softer than the previous tracks, about a boy and girl exchanging poetry and opinions of things on life, where the boy tries to tell the girl about Christ, asking her if have you ever felt abandoned? Felt so lost that you were stranded, Just like all the walls are closing in And you were left inside Have you ever felt like your days were numbered? Stuck under a tree in thunder Seems to be no way out! But there is One when in doubt!!!
The track then switches to a fast paced style that sounds similar to MXPX. A very catchy tune that will have to tapping your toes and singing along. The best track on the record.
“Rhime Animal” is a hip hop track thats music is played strictly instrumentally, although the chorus is very nu-metal. A decent track not one of my personal favorites and I am definitely not scared to press the skip on this track. Very attractive guitar work here and the chorus is very attractive as well. Using the beat of EMF’s track “Unbelievable”, TFK takes a twist on the lyrics, and says that the works of God are unbelievable, in a good way, saying that his works are truly amazing. They take the beat from EMF and turn it heavier, and have a crisp rap sound with it as well.
“When Up Come Down” is by far the heaviest sounding song on the record. The song is about how TFK stays true to what they believe in and that nothing can stop them now. One of the weaker tracks on this record. “Come Along” has a definite change in pace from previous tracks, this song has the pop punk sound to it making it a very catchy song. The chorus has the kinda sound that makes you want to nod your head, although because of McNevan’s raspy sounding voice makes them stand out in the category though. “Small Town” is a softer sound than most of the album. It is about a girl that feels lost and confused and finds herself in a church and conforms to christianity. The chorus has a nice pick up in sound and then settles back down nicely, very nice transition.
The title track to this album opens with McNevan trying to pump it up. The track however is merely average and doesn’t have anything special. “All The Way Live” has a swingy guitar sound to the opening, and tells the listeners to “lets funk it up” has the rap/rock sound through out the song. To me it just seemed like a filler track. “Lift It Up” Is the softest song on the entire album and is McNevans personal prayer to God about praising him. A very emotionally charged song for McNvan and a nice touch to end a great record.
In Conclusion, the album has a very solid sound, unfortunetly TFK has modified their sound and dropped the hip hop sound for their later albums, very disappointing. Certain tracks are amazing, where others seem to just be listenable. They are very into their faith on this record, so if you are looking at the lyrics and you are a nonbeliever, I wouldn’t pick this up. However their sound on this album is epic. Melding rap and rock together beautifully. Softer tracks are very stick out here and make them very appealing, taking a break from the heavy guitars and rapping.
Songs to listen to- “Puppet”, “Supafly”, “When In Doubt”, “Unbelievable”, “Small Town”, and “Lift It Up”
Big Tones final rating - 4
Big Effin Tone
