We've Walked In Hell and There Is Life After Death

Although Mountain Movers is a popular term in evangelical Christianity, and although bandleader Dan Greene (also a key figure in the long-running indie pop act the Butterflies of Love) is a former divinity school student, We've Walked in Hell and There Is Life After Death is not the CCM album some might expect from the band name and album title. This loosely constructed concept album uses its religious imagery in a more broad fashion, as acts like the Handsome Family, Will Oldham, and Nick Cave have in the past: the topics of faith, temptation, and forgiveness are explored without a specific theology in songs like "What the Devil Wants the Devil Takes" and "This Man Is Not Dead." Musically, Greene has assembled a core band from members of other bands in his adopted hometown of New Haven, CT, including a full-time trumpeter and a saxophonist who doubles on flute and cello; with guests adding a wide variety of other instruments, We've Walked in Hell and There Is Life After Death has a semi-orchestral sound pitched about halfway between Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and the Polyphonic Spree's debut. It's so easy to slot the Mountain Movers into lyrical and musical pigeonholes in large part because Greene is a talented but not particularly inspired songwriter: the songs on this album conform to musical and lyrical expectations in a way that makes them enjoyable but too familiar and comfortable to seem inspired.