I jumped on the bandwagon a little late with this band. I didn't even know they existed until my brother bought their cd cause it was voted number one in some magazine. I didn't like the album at all at first, then I started listening and got into it more. But even then (the beginning of the summer of '99) I only listened to probably the first four songs, and then started it over again. That summer I went to Sonshine, and Dear Ephesus was scheduled to play the first day. I was all excited, and I was going to take pictures for my brother. Well, they cancelled, and broke up soon after. Go figure.
The CD my brother had was "The Absent Sounds of Me", the 1998 release. Not only have I grown into the wonderful sound of Dear Ephesus, but the lyrics. Yes, this is a very emo band. That's how anyone would describe them. (Well anyone who knew what they were talking about. I, however, don't label music very well.) I pretty much stole this cd from my brother and now it's in MY car. My favorite song on this cd is "..And Nobody Thinks", though "Big Brother" runs a pretty close second. "West B" is a funny song about the writer childhood and the scary "cat" lady down the street.
Well after listening to a band's cd after a while, you begin to want a little more. You want new material, and new songs to learn. So I figured a few months ago that it was time to buy "The Consolations of Pianissimo", their 1997 cd. So I walked into the Christian Supply, and walked up the counter, and asked the clerk if he could look up the cd, and see if they could order it for me. (I knew they didn't carry it.) Weeeelllll.. it turns out the cd is out of PRINT! So I was pretty upset. I really wanted the cd, but it wasn't on ebay, and the big online cd distributors (cdnow, amazon) didn't carry it. Lo, and behold, a fellow DE fan online was going to send me the songs over the computer (he was too lazy to burn the cd for me). I figured this was okay, cause at least I would be able to hear the songs. Well someone on a message board tipped me off to The Crossing which carries a whole bunch of rare and not-so-rare, new and used Christian cds. I was so excited, I ordered it that night, and got it in a few days, brand new!
Dear Ephesus (and Aaron who writes most of the songs) is very deep. Most songs, it takes you a few listens to get what he is talking about, and some songs I still don't get. One of the best lines off this cd though, is off the song "Butter Never Bleeds" and goes "A fresh kiss, your skinned knees. It's got to hurt but falling down has never felt so sweet".
Two highlights off the cd are the two "hidden tracks". One serious, one ... well.. not serious. The first goes "A hill and a tree. A man who gave His life for me, life begins with a smile." The second song, from what I can tell, DE is making fun of another band, and says repeatedly "We're gonna rock the heck out of you, that's one thing we came to do!" It's quite funny. So that's my DE story. The next cd on my list is their EP "A View of Epic Proportions". I'll have to look into that, and see if it's even available anywhere. Sorry, there's no Dear Ephesus website anymore, they took it down. So this is all there is!
