Feat of Clay Heartens Christian Bands

This summer it’s Metalpalooza, with Lollapalooza’s lineup heavy with hard-rockers.

Next year will it be Godapalooza?

OK, that’s a stretch, but anyone with an eye on rock trends can’t help but notice that several successful bands in the Christian-rock market are making impressive crossovers into mainstream alternative-rock.

Christian-based messages are hardly new in rock--U2 and Lenny Kravitz, among prominent acts, have used explicit Christian imagery. But bands that make their names in the Christian-rock world have generally been shut out from the secular market unless they consciously change the tone of their songs.

That seems to be changing. Leading the way is Jars of Clay, whose debut album “Jars of Clay” was released last fall by the BMG-distributed Christian label Essential and then moved over to the secular label Silvertone. It is currently No. 60 and rising on the national sales chart, and the song “Flood” has been getting considerable airplay at both alternative-rock stations (including L.A.’s trend-setting KROQ) and adult alternative outlets (including L.A.’s KSCA).

Meanwhile, two other major labels are set to give big pushes to young bands that have had tremendous success in the Christian market: Dakoda Motor Company, with a punk-sounding album due from Atlantic next month, and Third Day, whose album (coming from Arista in June) has a sound that’s been compared to Pearl Jam’s.

And the labels are looking beyond the lucrative Christian market, toward fans who do not necessarily identify themselves as Christians.

“At a time when values in rock have sort of bottomed out and there have been a lot of hard times with suicides, drug problems and existential crises, maybe people are looking for something with a spiritual message,” says Jason Fine, editor of the alternative-rock magazine Option. “Whether it’s Christian or something else, it would seem to make sense that we’ll see more of it.”

John Styll, editor of Contemporary Christian Music magazine, hopes that’s true. “I don’t know if people are fed up with the anger,” he says, “but they’re fed up with the lack of an answer.”

Styll, though, is cautious about attributing the new success to Christian content. “These people are being accepted on musical terms, regardless of the message,” he says.

Even DC Talk, a trio with lyrics full of specifically Christian references, has had some crossover success. Its album “Jesus Freak” debuted in December in the Billboard pop Top 10, and sales are now approaching the million mark, while the video for the title song has gotten some play on MTV. The band is also headlining the Universal Amphitheatre on Saturday.

“Courtney Love is a Buddhist, but that doesn’t keep non-Buddhists from listening to her music,” says the group’s Toby McKeehan, . “Ice Cube is Muslim and talks about it in many songs, but you don’t find his albums stuck on a Muslim chart in Billboard.

“We don’t want to be in this Christian bubble. We talk about what’s affecting our generation--whether it’s the breakdown of the family or materialism eating us up. A lot of people can relate to that.”