Meet Five Iron Frenzy
Created | Updated Sep 21, 2005
Five Iron Frenzy, they were one of those bands that you either loved or hated. Formed in 1996 in Colorado, this ska band released eight regular studio albums as well as a few vinyl singles before breaking up in 2004.
Five Iron Frenzy was officially a Christian band, but most of the lyrics never overtly mentioned religious topics - they were simply a band that didn't have profanity or suggestive topics in their lyrics. Their lyrics, as we will explore below, were often humorous and tongue-in-cheek. However, they also used their music to achieve political means. Nearly every album contained a song about awareness of the explotation of the American Natives. They were also on the ska against racism tour at least one year.
Most of their albums are still available through their record label 5 minute walk so all is not lost if you haven't had a chance listen to them. In record stores in the USA their albums are found under the rock or ska section, not the Christian section.
The members were:
Andy -
Reese Roper - Lead Vocals
Dennis -
Sonnie -
Keith -
Leanor - "Jef the Girl"
Brad -
Micah -
(I will have all of their positions in a future edit)
Below I will give a brief synopsis of all of their albums. Beneath that you will find links to all of their new musical projects.
Upbeats and Beatdowns
1 Old West - A song about Manifest Destiny and explotation of Native Americans
2 Where 0 meets the 15 - wonders how a poor college student can make a difference in the world
3 Cool Enough for You - expressing disdain for people who make a big deal about the distinctions between punk, ska, and hardcore music
4 Anthem - a song against blind Nationalism
5 Faking Life - about believing more in money than other more important things in life
6 Shut Up - a track that simply says "shut up"
7 Arnold & Willis and Mr Drummond - a funny song about the old American tv show Different Strokes
8 I feel Lucky - about whether luck exists
9 Milestone - about seeing life through the eyes of another
10 Beautiful America - a cynical song about life in America
11 Combat Chuck - a funny song about a guy that the members of Five Iron Frenzy met and wrote a song about
12 Amalgamate - about unity
13 Everywhere I go - a love song (kinda)
14 A Flowery Song - a Christian song that contains the Protestant Doxology as the Chorus (a bit of humour with different animal noises signaling other animals praising God)
15 Third World Think Tank - a terrorist walks into a bar (no it's not a joke) and makes the patrons think about how life could end at any time
16 untitled track with various "secret" stuff
Our Newest Album Ever
1 Handbook for the Sellout - about someone who likes being on the edge and hates it when being on the edge becomes popular
2 Where is Micah - an amusing little song about losing one of the band members while on tour
3 Superpowers - a tongue-in-cheek song about idolizing singers (very funny)
4 Fistful of Sand - about chasing money
5 Suckerpunch - about being a nerd in school
6 Kitty Doggy - they continue the track 6 joke track by having a silly song they wrote about a dog before they had a record deal
7 Blue Come '78 - a mockingly serious song about losing a comb as a child
8 Banner Year - about deceitful treatment of the Native Americans
9 Second Season - a Christian song about being ready for the Second Coming of Christ
10 Litmus - a song denouncing a scientific "proof" of God
11 Oh, Canada - a song praising the Northernmost North American country (also a trend with ska bands)
12 Most Likely to Succeed - about betraying others to get on top
13 Every New Day - a praise song
Quantity is Job #1 EP
1 My Evil Plan to Save the World - a reverse-psychology look at religion
2 All that is Good - a denouncing of the rigidity of the Church and how it can put people off
3 Dandelions - a song about the innocence of children to us and us to God
4 One Girl Army - about how women are exploited in society
5 Sweet Talkin' Woman - I know this is a cover song, but I'm not sure who sings the original
6 When I go Out - a 4 line "song" making fun of punk music and continuing the track 6 trend
7 Get Your Riot Gear - a protest against the police handling of a riot in Colorado (not a cop bashing song if you carefully listen to the lyrics)
8 The Untimely Death of Brad - one day they told the the attendees at a concert that their trumpet player Brad, who was sick, was dead. They were amazed to find on the internet that he was dead and that the band was breaking up. So they made fun of it in a song.
9-16 Songs about Pants that make fun of every genre of music. Each "song" is about 15 seconds long
17 Kingdom of the Dinosaurs - another joke song
Live - Proof that the Youth Are Revolting
since I'm coving these songs above or below I won't cover then again here - it's a live album iwth songs from the previous albums as well as two songs from the next.
All The Hype that Money Can Buy
1 The Greatest Story Ever Told - about God
2 Me Oh My - also about God
3 Solidarity - about unity
4 The Phantom Mullet - about the hairstyle that plauges certain sectors of the American public
5 Ugly Day - a song Reese wrote when his fiancee broke off the engagnement
6 Farenheit - a song against homophobia
7 Four-Fifty-One - a tribute to the book Farenheit 451 as well as about being open to different types of music outside of the box
8 You Probably Shouldn't Move Here - a joke song
9 Hurricanes - another breakup song (I think) full of metaphors
10 Giants - a song against the evils of unchecked capitalism against small businesses
11 I still Like Larry - joke song
12 All the Hype - a song about how some artists are more about hype than substance
13 It's Not Unusual - a cover of the Tom Jones Song
14 A New Hope - a song about the Columbine shootings which occured in the neighborhood that Five Iron Frenzy if from
15 - World Without End - a praise song
Cheeses of Nazereth
1 Kamikaze - how Christianity can be like a Kamikaze mission
2-34 - Joke songs mostly set to the the tune of the same song as well as some alternate versions of songs in previous albums and pre-album mixes of songs
The End is Near
1 Cannonball - about taking the plunge for God (contains quite a few physics references)
2 At Leat I'm Not Like The Other Old Guys - about people who act as if they're younger than their age in an attempt to be cool
3 So Far, So Bad - a song where the band makes fun of itself -> the premise of the song - it's about itself and how it's a bad song - recursive!
4 New Years Eve - about how people make resolutions every year but don't keep them
5 American Kryptonite - about some of the evils of American society
6 It Was Beautiful - about the beauty of the outdoors and God
7 Wizard Need Food, Badly - about the conflict between men and women
8 Farewell to Arms - about a disengaged Christian
9 See the Flames Begin to Crawl - about the fact that this is truly the last studio album of the band
10 Anchor's Away - against the record companies
11 Something Like Laughter - about a single mom and her search for something more
12 That's how the Story Ends - an inside joke song making references to "Where's Micah", "The Untimely Death of Brad", the pants songs, "Combat Chuck", "Kingdom of the Dinosaurs", and "Blue Comb '78"
13 On Distant Shores - talks of how sometimes life can be a ratrace
14 Untitled - some laughing and talking
The End is Here
Live Version of "The End is Near" with a new song or two
Where are they now?
Reese is involved in Roper, Brave Saint Saturn and Guerrilla Rodeo.
http://www.guerillarodeo.com
http://www.roperisdumb.com
Dennis Culp is in Brave Saint Saturn
http://www.bravesaintsaturn.com
Brad is not involved in music at this time
Keith is also in Brave Saint Saturn
Sonnie is in an as of yet unnamed band
Jeff the Girl is not involved in music
Micah is not involved in a band, but is starting up a studio
Andrew is in Yellow Second
http://www.yellowsecond.com
Five Iron Frenzy was officially a Christian band, but most of the lyrics never overtly mentioned religious topics - they were simply a band that didn't have profanity or suggestive topics in their lyrics. Their lyrics, as we will explore below, were often humorous and tongue-in-cheek. However, they also used their music to achieve political means. Nearly every album contained a song about awareness of the explotation of the American Natives. They were also on the ska against racism tour at least one year.
Most of their albums are still available through their record label 5 minute walk so all is not lost if you haven't had a chance listen to them. In record stores in the USA their albums are found under the rock or ska section, not the Christian section.
The members were:
Andy -
Reese Roper - Lead Vocals
Dennis -
Sonnie -
Keith -
Leanor - "Jef the Girl"
Brad -
Micah -
(I will have all of their positions in a future edit)
Below I will give a brief synopsis of all of their albums. Beneath that you will find links to all of their new musical projects.
Upbeats and Beatdowns
1 Old West - A song about Manifest Destiny and explotation of Native Americans
2 Where 0 meets the 15 - wonders how a poor college student can make a difference in the world
3 Cool Enough for You - expressing disdain for people who make a big deal about the distinctions between punk, ska, and hardcore music
4 Anthem - a song against blind Nationalism
5 Faking Life - about believing more in money than other more important things in life
6 Shut Up - a track that simply says "shut up"
7 Arnold & Willis and Mr Drummond - a funny song about the old American tv show Different Strokes
8 I feel Lucky - about whether luck exists
9 Milestone - about seeing life through the eyes of another
10 Beautiful America - a cynical song about life in America
11 Combat Chuck - a funny song about a guy that the members of Five Iron Frenzy met and wrote a song about
12 Amalgamate - about unity
13 Everywhere I go - a love song (kinda)
14 A Flowery Song - a Christian song that contains the Protestant Doxology as the Chorus (a bit of humour with different animal noises signaling other animals praising God)
15 Third World Think Tank - a terrorist walks into a bar (no it's not a joke) and makes the patrons think about how life could end at any time
16 untitled track with various "secret" stuff
Our Newest Album Ever
1 Handbook for the Sellout - about someone who likes being on the edge and hates it when being on the edge becomes popular
2 Where is Micah - an amusing little song about losing one of the band members while on tour
3 Superpowers - a tongue-in-cheek song about idolizing singers (very funny)
4 Fistful of Sand - about chasing money
5 Suckerpunch - about being a nerd in school
6 Kitty Doggy - they continue the track 6 joke track by having a silly song they wrote about a dog before they had a record deal
7 Blue Come '78 - a mockingly serious song about losing a comb as a child
8 Banner Year - about deceitful treatment of the Native Americans
9 Second Season - a Christian song about being ready for the Second Coming of Christ
10 Litmus - a song denouncing a scientific "proof" of God
11 Oh, Canada - a song praising the Northernmost North American country (also a trend with ska bands)
12 Most Likely to Succeed - about betraying others to get on top
13 Every New Day - a praise song
Quantity is Job #1 EP
1 My Evil Plan to Save the World - a reverse-psychology look at religion
2 All that is Good - a denouncing of the rigidity of the Church and how it can put people off
3 Dandelions - a song about the innocence of children to us and us to God
4 One Girl Army - about how women are exploited in society
5 Sweet Talkin' Woman - I know this is a cover song, but I'm not sure who sings the original
6 When I go Out - a 4 line "song" making fun of punk music and continuing the track 6 trend
7 Get Your Riot Gear - a protest against the police handling of a riot in Colorado (not a cop bashing song if you carefully listen to the lyrics)
8 The Untimely Death of Brad - one day they told the the attendees at a concert that their trumpet player Brad, who was sick, was dead. They were amazed to find on the internet that he was dead and that the band was breaking up. So they made fun of it in a song.
9-16 Songs about Pants that make fun of every genre of music. Each "song" is about 15 seconds long
17 Kingdom of the Dinosaurs - another joke song
Live - Proof that the Youth Are Revolting
since I'm coving these songs above or below I won't cover then again here - it's a live album iwth songs from the previous albums as well as two songs from the next.
All The Hype that Money Can Buy
1 The Greatest Story Ever Told - about God
2 Me Oh My - also about God
3 Solidarity - about unity
4 The Phantom Mullet - about the hairstyle that plauges certain sectors of the American public
5 Ugly Day - a song Reese wrote when his fiancee broke off the engagnement
6 Farenheit - a song against homophobia
7 Four-Fifty-One - a tribute to the book Farenheit 451 as well as about being open to different types of music outside of the box
8 You Probably Shouldn't Move Here - a joke song
9 Hurricanes - another breakup song (I think) full of metaphors
10 Giants - a song against the evils of unchecked capitalism against small businesses
11 I still Like Larry - joke song
12 All the Hype - a song about how some artists are more about hype than substance
13 It's Not Unusual - a cover of the Tom Jones Song
14 A New Hope - a song about the Columbine shootings which occured in the neighborhood that Five Iron Frenzy if from
15 - World Without End - a praise song
Cheeses of Nazereth
1 Kamikaze - how Christianity can be like a Kamikaze mission
2-34 - Joke songs mostly set to the the tune of the same song as well as some alternate versions of songs in previous albums and pre-album mixes of songs
The End is Near
1 Cannonball - about taking the plunge for God (contains quite a few physics references)
2 At Leat I'm Not Like The Other Old Guys - about people who act as if they're younger than their age in an attempt to be cool
3 So Far, So Bad - a song where the band makes fun of itself -> the premise of the song - it's about itself and how it's a bad song - recursive!
4 New Years Eve - about how people make resolutions every year but don't keep them
5 American Kryptonite - about some of the evils of American society
6 It Was Beautiful - about the beauty of the outdoors and God
7 Wizard Need Food, Badly - about the conflict between men and women
8 Farewell to Arms - about a disengaged Christian
9 See the Flames Begin to Crawl - about the fact that this is truly the last studio album of the band
10 Anchor's Away - against the record companies
11 Something Like Laughter - about a single mom and her search for something more
12 That's how the Story Ends - an inside joke song making references to "Where's Micah", "The Untimely Death of Brad", the pants songs, "Combat Chuck", "Kingdom of the Dinosaurs", and "Blue Comb '78"
13 On Distant Shores - talks of how sometimes life can be a ratrace
14 Untitled - some laughing and talking
The End is Here
Live Version of "The End is Near" with a new song or two
Where are they now?
Reese is involved in Roper, Brave Saint Saturn and Guerrilla Rodeo.
http://www.guerillarodeo.com
http://www.roperisdumb.com
Dennis Culp is in Brave Saint Saturn
http://www.bravesaintsaturn.com
Brad is not involved in music at this time
Keith is also in Brave Saint Saturn
Sonnie is in an as of yet unnamed band
Jeff the Girl is not involved in music
Micah is not involved in a band, but is starting up a studio
Andrew is in Yellow Second
http://www.yellowsecond.com
