Not The Joneses is possibly the only Chicago-based double negative band you're going to find these days. They're a classic modern pop/rock melody-filled group that has more influences than most people have CD's. Their self-titled debut is their debut on True Tunes Records

The feeling that I can't shake with Not The Joneses is that they tread a fine line with the works of dc Talk. From the rap to the grunge, to the contemporary pop, Not The Jones does it all. NTJ doesn't rap, though, but they just do what Mike Tait and Kevin Max were doing while TobyMac "busted rhymes." Another example would be the track "J-Lite" which seems to be a cheesy example of a Jesus light, which is comparable to the also cheesy (but not as much) "J Train", meaning a Jesus train, by tobyMac, which was though, released a few years after the NTJ track. "Ashes To Ashes," the not radio single mix, is a decent song but when hearing the other mix for radio, there is an odd lackadaisical resemblance to Radiohead's "My Iron Lung." Not The Joneses is a little too close for comfort. Also to dispel any rumors about the track "God Is Dead," it is about something an end times asinine philosopher Frederick Nitchze said in one of his rants.

Not The Joneses works well to meld melody and I look forward to more of this in the future, but hopefully they will leap far away from any resembling musical pact. But for right now, they're just a poor man's dc Talk, Extreme, Mr. Big, or a newer Degarmo and Key.

- Review date: 7/7/02, written by Blake Garris