Chase the Kangaroo

Chase the Kangaroo is the fourth studio release, and third full length studio album, from alternative rock band the Choir, released in 1988. Considered by critics to be one of their finest albums, Chase the Kangaroo is listed at No. 50 in the book CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music, published in 2002, and No. 4 on the list of the "Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time" by HM Magazine in 2010.

In the midst of supporting Daniel Amos on their Fearful Symmetry tour in late 1986, the Choir received some devastating news—drummer and lyricist Steve Hindalong's wife Nancy had suffered her second miscarriage. This experience drove Hindalong to write a poem for his wife entitled "A Sad Face," which was inspired by the Bible verse in Ecclesiastes 7:3 which said, "Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart." This verse would ultimately become the theme of the Choir's next album, and the poem's lyrics would be revised and adapted for the song, "Sad Face." However, lead singer and guitarist Derri Daugherty was able to put aside enough money to create his own recording studio, dubbed "Neverland" as an homage to Peter Pan, located right next door to Pakaderm Studios in Los Alamitos, CA, where the band recorded their prior two studio releases.

The recording process for Chase the Kangaroo was long and difficult, and Daugherty and Hindalong felt the pressure of living up to the success of Diamonds and Rain as well as proving themselves as producers. When the Choir wasn't using the studio, Adam Again came in at night to record their sophomore album Ten Songs by Adam Again, and it wasn't unusual for the Choir to arrive at Neverland in the morning and see Adam Again frontman Gene Eugene still working away at the controls. Eugene would end up mixing the first two songs on Chase the Kangaroo, and he and Riki Michele would also contribute background vocals. Hindalong would return the favor by co writing the first two tracks on Ten Songs. Chase the Kangaroo benefited from other key contributors, primarily lead singer and bass guitarist Steve Griffith from Vector. According to Hindalong, Griffith was "a great engineer, who engineered the All Fall Down record for the 77’s up in Sacramento. We were such a fan of that album, for a period of a few weeks, we brought Steve down to work with us." Griffith would perform a variety of duties, including bass guitar, additional production and background vocals. Mark Heard, who had helped produce the re recorded version of "A Million Years," also returned to assist with engineering, recording and background vocals. One challenge during the recording process was capturing the work of saxophone and Lyricon player Dan Michaels, who—in contrast to his more animated stage presence—would tend to freeze up under studio pressure. Daugherty then used a Korg SDD 3000 Delay for its "weird, harmonic modulation feature," which Hindalong claimed was "one of my favorite guitar things Derri's ever done." In addition to "Sad Face," Daugherty said that "one of the [proudest] things of ours that I've ever done" is the instrumental break for "Clouds," which was created using an initial recording on magnetic tape, then flipped backwards to record additional instrumentation with the assistance of DAT technology. "[Back] then, it was not easy to do," Daugherty said. "There weren’t a lot of bands doing that kind of thing." This exact solo would be re used again in "I’m Sorry I Laughed" on 2010's Burning Like the Midnight Sun. Hindalong also took advantage of studio technology for the recording of "Cain," as he could not play the drums fast enough. Engineer Dave Hackbarth slowed the analog tape down so Hindalong could play along, which made the final performance sound much tighter at normal speed.

"Sad Face," with its transparent and vulnerable lyrics, proved to be the most impactful song on the album, and it has become a live set list mainstay in the years since. Many of the other songs on the album also dealt with weighty topics, like mortality ("Children of Time"),

"Clouds" was a key exception, with a strong worshipful mood. It was one of the last songs written for the album, Hindalong also drew upon imagery of clouds and thick darkness from Psalm 97:2. "The center of our music is the mystery of God, what we don't know, and accepting the fact that more and more will be revealed," he explained. The song then fades into a reprise of "Render Love" from Diamonds and Rain at the very end, as Hindalong wanted to explore the tension between what people say and what they do when it comes to violence. "I was really influenced by Bruce Cockburn and some of his real anti war, pacifist type thinking," Hindalong said, "[and] we’d have these big political arguments all the time. I've always enjoyed violence and revenge as much as anybody else; growing up, The Rifleman was my favorite show. That’s why at the end I put 'Render Love' just to show that irony of [ ] I can argue about whatever I want to argue about, but it doesn't make me a pacifist in my heart. We're all conflicted." This was the first time Hindalong performed lead vocals on a Choir song, and his humorous lyrics honor Sercomb with the line, "He smokes a lot of Camels"; however, this was replaced by, "In tears for man's condition," as Myrrh would not allow the mention of smoking in the lyrics. particularly on the Choir's acoustic tour for de plumed in 2010. The title track "Chase the Kangaroo" was inspired by a Bugs Bunny cartoon that Hindalong watched during the time he was working construction, "mostly picking and shoveling, in the ditch for days." Originally with the popular L. A. cult band the Toasters, Spurs was introduced to the Choir by her then boyfriend, writer Chris Willman, who would later go on to be a music critic and features editor for Entertainment Weekly and Variety, respectively. Spurs immediately joined the Choir on tour as they played a mixture of L. A. clubs (the Roxy and the Troubador), opening slots for the 77's, and their own shows across the US.

As a result of a successful 2023 Kickstarter campaign, Chase the Kangaroo was re released for a second time in March 2024, this time fully remastered. The album was made available as a single CD or single LP, the latter format for the first time since 1988, and in a new gatefold package. Vinyl options included black, blue or orange, along with a custom engraved wooden box to hold all three versions as well as other campaign rewards. However, the 2012 audio commentary was re released as a digital download for Kickstarter supporters.

Because the campaign exceeded a $77,000 stretch goal, the Choir released a bonus CD entitled 7 + 77s = 9: Reinterpretations, which included nine new tracks. The first seven were a mix of studio and live re recorded versions of Choir songs: six from Chase the Kangaroo, along with a remixed version of the 2023 re recording of "More Than Words," originally released to the Choir's Patreon supporters. The remaining two tracks were in partnership with the 77s, as each band agreed to go into the studio and record a cover tune from the other if the stretch goal was achieved. The Choir recorded "Nowhere Else" from the 77s' 1990 album Sticks and Stones, while the 77s recorded "To Cover You" from the Choir's 1989 album Wide Eyed Wonder.

All lyrics by Steve Hindalong. All music by Hindalong, Derri Daugherty and Tim Chandler, except where noted.