Chagall Guevara ‘Halcyon Days’

Chagall Guevara
Halcyon Days
(Splint Entertainment/The Fuel Music)

Chagall Guevara, an all-star band that first appeared in the early ‘90s, was seemingly posed for crossover success, only to disappear from public view shortly thereafter. Then—seemingly suddenly—the group reappeared in 2020 with a Kickstarter campaign to fund a live album from a 1991 performance called The Last Amen. Now, approximately twenty years later, comes Halcyon Days, the surprise follow-up to the act’s self-titled debut. Although long overdue, it’s nevertheless a sincerely appreciated gift.

The band, although never expressly Christian in lyrical content, is an all-star act of sorts. Led by Steve Taylor’s distinctive lead vocals, the group also includes Dave Perkins, Lynn Nichols, Mike Mead and (now) John Mark Painter. And this new album reveals how the group hasn’t missed a beat since the Bush (Sr.) era. It’s a headphone album, too, as the recording’s interlocking electric guitar parts are impressive and entertaining throughout. It’s mostly guitar rock, too, although “Still Know Your Number By Name” speedily two-steps like a barely containable cow-punk hoedown.

Everything on the album is top tier, although one track named “Goldfingers,” with its lyrical commentary on unbridled greed, stands out most—after all’s said and done. Taylor has never been the most technically proficient vocalist, but his snotty snarl is perfectly suited for this one, and the album’s other many times angry anthems.

Back in ’91, many fans of redemptive art tribe hoped Chagall Guevara would bring quality Christian-inspired music into the mainstream in a big way. Sadly, though, the group was about as commercially successful as a Che Guevara-led communist revolution. Nevertheless, for those that have waited patiently for Chagall Guevara’s unlikely return, these are, indeed, halcyon days.

—Dan MacIntosh

Spotify Album Playlist:

Album Track List:
1-Resurrection #9
2-Got Any Change?
3-Surrender
4-A Bullet’s Worth a Thousand Words
5-Still Know Your Number By Heart
6-Goldfingers
7-Halcyon Days
8-I, Madness
9-Treasure of the Broken Land