Sumerlin

Christian radio rock has been dominated by Red, Switchfoot, Thousand Foot Krutch and Pillar for years, but there is always room at the top for new acts, and Sumerlin could fit this bill. The band straddles (embraces?) the line between rock and Christian contemporary music in a way that works, and it’s propelled them to the top. Spending 40 weeks on the Billboard charts last year, the group’s newest album, Runaways, is one of the most anticipated rock releases of 2014. The album has already brought the band success, and it’s not hard to see why.

A four-piece outfit from Wilmington, NC, the group’s debut release, Motives, gave them their first taste of success, yielding chart-ranking material with the tracks “The Fallback” and “Just a Dream.” The group’s debut full-length was released early in February, and has since risen to success. Its biggest reason differentiator: variety.

Instead of coming out swinging, Sumerlin starts the record with a beautiful contemporary rock piece as a moment of praise. What really works for them is they have managed to take sounds popularized by other groups in their genre and made them their own. They have breathed life into a genre that had grown stale through replication.