Reviewed by Tim Chappell

Manchester's Audacious City Church provide an anchorage for thousands of hungry believers. As well as this, they provide a spiritual home to the band that share the church's name. They "had me" at track one and I'll definitely listen to them again (and no doubt with two tapping feet, and a pair of hands that itch to go air-guitar!). If you're seeking some sort of ground-breaking new-wave style of Christian rock, you won't find it here. It's the normal 4/4 timing, beefy guitar, hard hitting percussion and well thought out build-ups and choral explosion type affair that most worship rock bands adhere to. But 'Bounce' gives the formula a massive dollop of heart and lyrical excellence that the more wishy-washy bands of this genre can lack. It also simply has "something about it", a certain X factor. There is also NO overpowering keyboard element to steal the limelight - this band are all about the axe, and they swing them well. For an example of this please play one of the samples provided on the Cross Rhythms website, "A Tribe Called Praise" would be a good starting point. All the tracks on this worthy 11 track contemporary rock album provide riffs that are simple and clear, the production is pristine and the vocalists are perfect in style, giving at least one goose-bump inducing moment on every track. They have even been kind enough to throw in a couple of softer tracks along the way so that you can have a sit-down from all the praising and jumping about that you WILL be doing as this album plays.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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