I remember when "Barlow Girls" from Superchic[K] was CCM's big hit. Perhaps we were just uninformed, but the question among my friends was "Are the Barlow girls real?" Well, it seems the question has now been answered, while posing the next question "Is their band any good?" Apparently, the three sisters that inspired the break out Superchic[k] hit three years ago have been a band for nearly four.

So why on earth are they only now getting signed to a label? Your guess is a good as mine. I'm sure there is some legitimate reasons (Perhaps something to do with the youngest sister wanting to finish high school…?), but it just seems like it would have been a much better marketing strategy for someone to have signed these girls years ago.

But, alas, here it is now. BarlowGirl releases their self-titled debut on Fervent Records. And if ever there was a band with a mission statement, it's this one. Just like the song they inspired, these girls stand out. They don't live according to the world's standards of modesty, as well as dating. They have their own set of rules which, not so ironically, fit according to God's standards.

Now, as a Christian teenage male living in American society, all I can do is applaud BarlowGirl for their stance on purity and the like. It's a struggle for guys to keep their minds pure when the opposite sex is showing off a little too much. It's not often at all that a band comes along and encourages their teen girl peers to respect themselves and the bodies God has given them. So often the media and other outlets try to ingrain in their minds that their sexuality is the only thing that makes them special, when according to God, there is nothing farther from the truth.

The positive messages on BarlowGirl never halt. The girls trust God fully to get them through life, as stated on "Harder than the First Time," "On My Own," as well as many others.

Musically is where BarlowGirl is the least impressive. Ironically, their sound can be easily compared to that of Superchic[K], minus the DJ cuts and techno flare. They also sound like the girl punk rock band Lillix, but Superchic[K] is the obvious influence here. Nothing new, but BarlowGirl mixes their sound up enough that it never gets stale.

Usually, a disc this devoted to one topic might seem a bit redundant and preachy. But in today's culture (One in which women are baring all during the halftime show of the most watched sporting event in America), this is a wake up call to all the girls who feel they have to flaunt what God has given them in order to be accepted.

- Review date: 02/22/04, written by Josh Taylor