PREMIERE | Family Worship Center, 'Kicked Out of the Garden'
Praise be — presenting Family Worship Center; photographed by Harper King.
There is something about collectives and what they contribute to our greater collective, contemporary consciousness. From the bands of merry pranksters holed up in warehouses in places zoned solely for commercial enterprises (not residential), to the odd ducks pursing their own takes on utopia in communes out in rural and off the grid acres, art gallery gangs and other ensembles of energetic, evangelical outliers — these are the outsiders and eccentrics that offer different paths. Fresh perspectives. A way of life and approach to methodologies that defy the orders of orchestrated itineraries, office cubicle culture, eschewing the status quo of rituals regimented in antiquated systems of order in favor of building new societies that abide by progressive mantras and radical points of reason. While some of these curious, could-be-cults might be more than a little suspect, they all contribute new views and approaches to all the things that make up our livelihoods. A different take on civics, new passages of purpose, dream worlds where everyone's contributions count as part of the whole picture, a movement toward attaining a degree of light, pushing toward higher grounds and states of living, being and existing out in the great wide world.
In this grand tradition of collectives and lysergic eyed visionaries is Portland, Oregon’s own Family Worship Center. Guided by bandleader Andy Krissberg, they present a first listen to their upcoming debut album Kicked Out of the Garden that offers some heavenly rays of enlightenment that is dedicated to the holy word of self-proclaimed Groove. A group that for all we know might actually be a cult of some sort, their debut album has the sound of a caravan of defectors that fled the youth group coop to partake in earthly delights with a gospel of grooves. Like a choir of misfits that escaped from the auspices of an authoritarian tabernacle tent revival hocking snake oil and salvation in the name of chasing harmonious hymns of transcendental visions — Family Worship Center brings the liturgy of life and energetic musical epistles for their fellow excommunicated siblings in arms.
Kicked Out of the Garden is a total romp for anyone who has ever been sent home early from Sunday School for heretical and/or apostate behavior. "The South" rollicks and rides like a Tennessee whiskey soaked ode to getting squeezed out of the Bible belt by an army of intolerant true believers. Tumbling like tumbleweeds and rolling like rambling dice, Family Worship Center trucks on with timeless toe tappers like "Stella", to the sultry sax studded "Hellfire" that sways with a wanton and wayward wanderlust. The fire and brimstone à gogo keeps on keeping on with the the moving and a grooving snarl, rattle and roll of "Snake Dance", right before revving up the electric organ of hungover revelry on the anthemic ruby and chrome coated luster that propels "Red Mustang".
The band keeps the ballads of biblical transgressions coming on a collection of testimonials that are ripped from lessons of the new and old testaments and all the non-canonized texts penned by the modern day antiheroes and fallen angels. “Is It Me” kicks up some dance floor sawdust like a Last Supper turned into a honky-tonk happening hosted by dodgy messianic figures and attended by undisciplined, wily and restless disciples. Sailing forth on an ark coasting on the flooded valleys of sinners beneath the shadow of death, Andy and the Worship Center deliver "Pass Away" to raise the Lazarus-like masses that might have gotten caught in the apocalyptic undertow. The title track closes out the record with the group firing on all cylinders with an undefeated spirit of friendship like a group of delightfully devilish deviants being cast out, 86'd and outright banned from the mythic Garden of Eden. Kicked Out of the Garden ain’t about trembling from the fear of the tribulation or repenting before the rapture but chasing the almighty liberation of the spirit and the body that Krissberg and crew call the Groove. Lift up your hands, affix your eyes toward the sky and get ready for a spiritual transformation in communion with the PNW collective in search of an elevated tier of existence.
The band was kind enough to present us with the following statement about their debut album Kicked Out of the Garden:
Andy Krissberg (left) and the gang of groovies known as Family Worship Center; photographed by Harper King.
Of thee we sing! Whose path we follow, and whose beat guides our feet. Those who have learned to walk with Groove necessarily possess the imperative to share the word of Groove to all those around them. We are inevitably bound to shout the wisdom of Groove with our whole hearts — at the top of our lungs! As such, Kicked Out of the Garden serves as a call to the world to join hands in Groove. After years of research, study, and experimentation, our spiritual leader Andy Krissberg has created a series of songs written to educate and excite the public about the Groove we hold in such esteem. This message was created for the millions of people worldwide living in fear and doubt. Like Andy always says:
Rejoice! It’s Family Worship Center; photographed by Harper King.
‘Do not fear, for Groove is with you if only you could see it! Do not be dismayed, as the beat is always around you! Groove will strengthen you, help you, and uphold you if only we can open our ears and our hearts!’
Family Worship Center’s album Kicked Out of the Garden will be available September 8 via CorpoRAT Records.