But, your mouth is like a magazine.
Showbread was a post hardcore, electronica, punk, noise rock, indie, alternative rock (well you get the idea), band originating from Guyton, Georgia that was formed in 1997. Showbread began their humble career as a church worship band before members became interested in other styles of music. Said styles tended to be excessively loud, and/or rambunctious. This prompted the bands church to kick them out. Five years of toiling away on the underground scene, and three angst filled records later the band was picked up in 2004 by Seattle based Tooth & Nail Records. It was the first release on this record label that they really defined their sound (well as much as a sound of this type can be “defined”), and introduced the world to "Raw Rock" with No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical. The band’s brand of hyperactive rock didn’t exactly win them worldwide fame, but it did gain them a small but loyal fanbase in both the christian and secular market.
The band continued releasing records at a fairly consistent rate over the next twelve years while cycling through a lot of members, nineteen to be exact, with the number of members currently in the band ranging anywhere from seven to three at a time. The only two consistent members throughout the bands life were founder and bassist Patrick Porter, and lead vocalist Josh Dies who was the primary creative force for much of the bands later albums. Finally after going independent, and nearly self destructing during the creation of the Rock Opera concept album/movie duo Cancer, the band decided to lay the showbread title to rest. One reunion of many of the band members, and a what was meant to be a final album later showbread was showdead in 2016. However the spirit of the band still lives on in the many side projects of it’s members and in a surprise reunion of sorts (complete with a new co-vocalist) in 2022 when the band released a surprise album.
In case the name of the band or their bio didn’t clue you in, Showbread is a Christian Rock band. However this didn’t keep them from causing a lot of controversy by writing about a wide variety of topics, including hypocritical Christians, abortion, and zombie movies. As previously discussed the music style of the band evolved a lot over the course of their career. The band covered everything from soft acoustic ballads, and indie rock, to industrial rock and hardcore.
The newest lineup consists of:
- Whitney DePaoli: vocals, synthesizer
- Josh Dies: vocals, synthesizer, guitar, bass, programming
- Patrick Port: bass, synthesizer
- Mike Jensen: synthesizer, programming and production
Former members:
- Emmett Belegorska: vocals
- Casey Belagorska: vocals
- Davy Minor: bass
- Eddie Ortiz: vocals and guitar
- Travis Riner: guitar
- Chris Nunnaly: synthesizer
- Marvin Reilly: drums
- Matt Davis: guitar
- John Giddens: keytar
- Justin "Big O" Oblinger: drums
- Ricky Holbrook: drums
- Drew Porter: drums
- Landon Ginnings: guitar
- Ivory Mobley: vocals
- Ryan Peterson: drums
- Garrett Holmes: synthesizer
Major releases:
- The Dossonance of Discontent (1998)
- Goodbye is Forever (1999)
- Life, Kisses, and Other Wasted Efforts (2003)
- No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical (2004)
- Age of Reptiles (2006)
- Anorexia (2008) Part of the double album rock opera Anorexia, Nervosa.
- Nervosa (2008): Part of the double album rock opera Anorexia, Nervosa.
- The Fear of God (2009)
- Who Can Know It? (2010)
- Cancer (2012)
- Showbread Is Showdead (2016)
- OUR FATHERS WERE MODELS FOR GOD (2022)
Tropes associated with the band or their songs:
- Age-Progression Song: "The Death (Anorexia)" consists of alternating between "When I was a... (a baby, small, a child, of age)" showing the optimism of the Anorexia's youth, contrasted with the gloomy, horrible "now I am..."
- Album Intro Track: No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical uses this for a joke at the listener's expense. The first track, "A Llama Eats a Giraffe (and Vice Versa)" begins with a quiet phone conversation between two people which lasts for about 30 seconds. An unsuspecting listener who turn up the volume to understand it will then get assaulted by a Metal Scream and blaring guitars when the song itself starts without any prior warning.
- Alternate Reality Episode: Within the context of the concept album Cancer the band is known as “Protozoa”.
- Arc Symbol: The Age Of Reptiles has many reptile, bug, and dinosaur themes running throughout it. Just a few of the examples include "Dinosaur Bones", "Centipede Sisters", and "The Jesus Lizard".
- Audience Participation Song: "Mouth Like a Magazine", and "Matthias Replaces Judas" tend to be the two songs that get the most audience participation. It probably helps that these are two of their more "normal" sounding songs.
- Break Up Song: "Check Yes If You Like Me (If You Don't I'll Die)" could potentially fit into the "We're About To Break Up Because I Know You're Cheating" version of this trope.
- Concept Album: It could be argued that nearly all their albums follow some sort of concept but Anorexia, Nervosa, and Cancer, all have a specific story that follows along with the songs on the album.
- Distinct Double Album: Anorexia and Nervosa were released simultaneously, and featured songs by the same names, however, every song is completely distinct from Anorexia and Nervosa; for example, "The Beginning (Anorexia)" is an instrumental piano aria, while "The Beginning (Nervosa)" is not instrumental and features multiple movements by multiple singers.
- Eagleland: Type 2, particularly on "Myth of a Christian Nation", and "Anarchy!".
- Epic Rocking: They have a few of these. "Stabbing Art to Death" clocked in at over seven minutes in its first release, and "Age of Reptiles/Age of Insects" is all but eleven. The average length of a Showbread song is five minutes, if you factor in songs such as "And the Smokers and Children Shall Be Cast Down", "Matthias Replaces Judas", "The Bell Jar", "The Pig (Anorexia)", "The Death (Anorexia)", "The Beginning (Anorexia)", "The Flies (Nervosa)" (both of these are instrumentals), "The Goat (Nervosa)", "The Beginning (Nervosa)", "The Fear of God", "A Man With a Hammer", and "The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things".
- Genre Roulette: Their type of music in general, but "I’m Afraid That I’m Me" probably takes the cake for for having multiple genres of music in one song.
- Hope Is Scary: "Precursor" qualifies as this.
- "I Am" Song: The Devil gets one in "The Goat (Nervosa)". Almost every line is a description of what he is, and every other set of words is "I am." Also, in "The Sky (Anorexia)", the refrain is a deathly and commanding "I Am."
- I Am the Band: It could be argued that due to writing a majority of the songs in later albums, and being one of only two consistent members throughout the bands life, that Josh Dies was this.
- Metal Scream: Not uncommon at all for these guys. For object A just listen to the beginning of "A Llama Eats a Giraffe (and Vice Versa)"
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: On the tour supporting their album No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical, they were the headlining band, with two metal bands opening for them. Showbread's frontman, Josh Dies, referred to the tour several times as "the Monsters of Metal Tour...and Showbread".
- The Power of Rock: Part of the story in "Cancer" is how an underground rock band fights against an oppressive dystopian government with their music.
- Sanity Slippage Song: "I Think I'm Going to See You". Also overlaps with Love Makes You Crazy.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "The Missing Wife" may be the gentlest song in the bands discography.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: "George Romero Will Be at Our Wedding", Josh explained at a concert that the song was about a character and his wife who both got turned into zombies; and how even death couldn’t separate their love for each other.
- Take That, Audience!: "Shepherd, No Sheep" from their 2009 album The Fear of God is a whole song consisting of this trope coupled with
Misaimed Fandom and Artist Disillusionment, talking to their old fans who latched onto their album No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical because it was a high-energy, distorted rock album with screamed vocals released at a time when Screamo and Metalcore were steadily gaining popularity. - Vocal Tag Team: Prior to Ivory Mobley's departure. Ivory and Josh Dies would trade off rapid-fire vocals within the same song, frequently alternating lines within the same verse.
