Switchfoot may very well be one of the most underrated bands in music today. Their latest album, Nothing Is Sound, debuted at a respectable number three on the Billboard 200 albums chart but there has barely been a peep about neither the group nor the record in the mainstream media.

There should be.

The San Diego-based band has put together a very strong release, their fifth since they first rocked the indie circuit in 1997 with The Legend of Chin. The disc is twelve tracks of non-stop action ? almost every song is single-material, showing just how apt the Foreman brothers (Jon and Tim) are at writing memorable tunes that fans can sing along to.

But this album does much more than give you something to do when you?re stuck in traffic. Switchfoot has made themselves known as a rock band that isn?t afraid to tackle tough subjects, and they continue to do so on Nothing Is Sound ? a socially relevant record that?s a more mature follow-up to 2003?s The Beautiful Letdown.

The star of the album is the high-powered ?Lonely Nation,? which opens the record and gets listeners thinking about commercialism and how we are constantly inundated by the need to buy. The track boasts a chorus that just refuses to get out of your head and would have probably made an even better first single than the tune that follows it, ?Stars,? which has been getting radio airplay since earlier this summer.

Another song that will leave an impression is ?The Shadow Proves The Sunshine,? a song which the band told andPOP in September was inspired by a recent trip to South Africa. The hauntingly beautiful ballad is simple but the pain in Foreman?s achingly genuine vocals is sure to bring a tear or two to those who wear their emotions on their sleeves.

Switchfoot does pain well, which may or may not be a good thing. The entire album is generally dark, and some may say, depressing, but while the band does make the world sound like a pretty sad place, they ultimately pass on a message of hope. Track eleven, ?We Are One Tonight,? is a good example: ?The stars are coming out,? sings Foreman optimistically, and you believe him.

4.5*
Release Date: September 13, 2005
Sony

1. Lonely Nation
2. Stars
3. Happy Is a Yuppie Word
4. The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
5. Easier Than Love
6. The Blues
7. The Setting Sun
8. Politicians
9. Golden
10. The Fatal Wound
11. We Are One Tonight
12. Daisy






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