Tideway: Yawedit

Band: Tideway
Album: Yawedit (Jan 2017)
Genre: Rock / Alternative / Punk / Post-Hardcore
Standout Tracks: The Hey Is For Horses Song, Green Pedals, Arnie Palmie,
City: Wichita, Ks
Seen Live: yes
Rating: 7/10 pretty good!

Im going to go out on a limb and say that Tideway is influenced by Christian Rock. Before you get mad, let me explain.

I hear clear similarities from Relient K, Kutless, Spoken,  Disciple, Skillet, Thousand Foot Crutch, P.O.D., Pillar. Im going to go one step further and say that Tideway is a band of church musicians who may be sick of christian hypocrisy.  The opening lyrics to their opening track “The Hey Is For Horses Song” are:

“You play with my emotions, are
filled with pointless devotion.
I run away from the light
Into the dark, head full of fright.”

Aside from the sound, there is multiple lyrical evidence that supports a christian background.

“I love you, I fell right into your beautiful face
and distinguished grace
I know it is all over now
and i’m still there with what is left of me”
~Green Pedals

That may not seem like much to go on, but the only songs I know that use the word GRACE is either an old patriotic hymnal or contemporary Christian rock.

“Burning your morsels
sinking your vessels
speaking in tongues just to say
look how special I can be”
~Arnie Palmie

“Speaking in tongues” is a phrase often used to a phenomenon also known as baptism through the Holy Spirit. It’s hard to explain if you don’t have a Christian background.
(too be fair i’m pretty sure he said something about a “circle jerk” too)

Which brings me to the next evidence that disproves everything I have mentioned up to this point. THE ENTIRE SONG OF BEACH BALL. The song is clearly a ‘fuck you’ to somebody who is a “bitch” and a “slut”. Also the secret song at the end of Stephen. Its a wonderful story about Scott and his “motherfucking face”. Lol!

On the song “Sip”, during the breakdown, (Yes, I did say breakdown) 1:54 he says “keep singing the secret hymns.”

So maybe they are pulling away from what appears to be an obvious Christian background. I still enjoy their music. It brings me back, as I also walked a similar path in my youth. But that is an oddly specific target audience. (One that I fit in) Perhaps the reason why I am reminded of early 2000’s christian rock bands, was because I was a teenager going to church at the time. I recall my youth pastor asking me what I was listening to one time. I told him System Of A Down, and then he asked with a disappointed face, “Is that a christian band?” I remember feeling like I was super edgy/rebellious because I was listening to secular music. I remember the growing discontent.

Bridging the gap between Christian and secular music is a fine line on a razors edge. On one hand, you could insult christians and they will shun your music for not being Christian enough. On the secular side, it can come across as preachy and can be a turn off, potentially turning away a large majority of music listeners. A secular audience will not like or understand the christian references (such as speaking in tongues) and a christian audience will not appreciate adult language in the lyrics.

There is a target audience; but like I said, it is oddly specific. Their music should be easily marketable to teenagers of Christian families who are old enough to spend their own money and hang out with friends alone on the weekend. Teenagers who are more curious about non Christian music and trying to break free from a life of being sheltered from the sinful secular world. You get the idea. The market is there. Just very oddly specific. I remember hiding my secular music interest from my parents. Lamb Of God capitalized off of this market when they were starting up. They were clearly Anti-Christian, but naive parents could not tell the difference between Lamb of God, and Z.A.O., or Underoath.

I think that Tideway will eventually pick a side. It will be difficult to last long in the middle. The idea is to get fans from both sides, but it can backfire and both sides can reject you.

I think that as long as you don’t read too much into it and enjoy the music for what it is, and not what you would prefer it to be, then a lot of people should enjoy Tideway.

Side Note:
The breakdown in “Sip” at 2:10, it reminds me of a song by iwrestledabearonce called “Tastes Like Kevin Bacon.” at 2:26