The Knights of the New Crusade seem to be controversial to just about everyone. And that just might be the point. A garage punk band based out of San Francisco, The Knights of the New Crusade are equal opportunity offenders. The band’s 2006 release, A Challenge to the Cowards of Christendom features lyrics like: “Why do you want to go to hell?” and “when I see her around town, she’s doing things to make the devil proud.” Their message is clear: “Jesus is the only way and without Him, you’ll perish.” Needless to say, non-believers might not come running back for more.

Yet the band is equally as set on many Christians, chastising many other “Christian” bands for hiding Jesus under a bushel, record labels for chasing profits (singing “You don’t post record earnings by telling people to give their wealth to the poor”) and politicians for inconsistency, asking in one song “What part of Thou Shalt Not Kill Don’t You Understand,” saying “some of the people that get on our case for being Knights are under the influence of the same war-mongering demons as the politicians who ignore the commandments that Jesus affirmed.”

Yet, this over-the-top band has many wondering if the whole thing isn’t just a gimmick. For one thing, the band wears crusader uniforms to perform. The album artwork seems to be a parody of the famous Chick tracts. But, perhaps more to the point, the band is signed to the famous (or is that infamous) Alternative Tentacles label, owned by famed non-believer Jello Biafra, formerly of The Dead Kennedys. The label itself says:

we here at AT debated the wisdom of signing such an outspokenly fundamentalist religous band to the historically spiritually skeptical label owned by Jello Biafra. Other AT artists have strong spiritual beliefs, but none approach the stridency or literalism of the Knights’ beliefs. However, the Knights of the New Crusade’s stated objective is to take Christianity back from the powerful hypocrites who have hijacked it and to make Christian rock that actually rocks. Besides, Alternative Tentacles thrives on controversy, especially when it is as double-edged as the swords the band wields on stage.

In a 2006 podcast, one label executive complains a bit about the band’s forward approach to their faith, but then commends them for attacking some of the same people the label has been known for attacking. Both the band and the label play it remarkably straight-faced, leaving the rest of us to wonder. If the band is a gimmick, they seem to be pushing all the right buttons.

And yet, gimmick or not, the band has clearly hit some sensitive nerves for a lot of people. They play primarily “secular” venues without watering down the message of Christ while calling many other aspects of commercial Christianity to task. The band’s very existence challenges nearly every notion of what is and what is not “Christian” music, leaving many people simply scratching their heads in their wake.

The band forces us to consider whether it is possible to be more outspoken about our faith in all contexts rather than just preaching the gospel at churches or “youth rallies.” Yet, at the same time, they also challenge the way in which we often don’t stop to actually think about what it is that we preach. We are all guilty of gross inconsistencies in our approach to Christianity, often justifying in Jesus’ name actions He would have clearly condemned. Nowhere is this perhaps more apparent than the “Christian entertainment” industry, for which the band has little sympathy.

Some people are offended by this band. Some people think they’re nothing more than a gimmick. But, if anything, they force us to think, and for that reason alone they ought to be taken seriously.

• Visit the band’s Myspace page
• Read Allmusic’s review of the band’s latest album
• Read other “Monday Morning Music Rambles”
• Purchase the band’s music from Amazon
• Download the band’s music from eMusic
• Hear part one of a two-part interview with the band
• Hear part two of a two-part interview with the band
• Download the band from