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***1998:
A bunch of Jesus-loving, jalopy-gospel way-backers get together and do creative things: Shrieking, speaking, flailing, failing, storytelling, fear-quelling. In the process, songs and stories are smithed and written, friendships and families are stretched and shaken, stirred and strengthened. Genre-gender-class-past-death-defiers and town-crying demystifiers of mystery history lead these pacifistic, full-frontally ballistic missives. Best of all, on frequent occasions, we see entombed voices raisin' and we peek through the haze.
***NOW:
More than a DECADE together, these doors're gonna swing wiiiiide.
"8/10 stars - The confidently named Agents Of Future from North Portland, USA, have been much talked about after their Greenbelt appearances - some loving their eccentric eclecticism, others detesting their rather shambolic stage presence. To be frank, their album here is bizarre - it's raw, unrestrained, messy, passionate and raucous garage rock blitzed with erratic melodies and screeching vocals harmonies. In fact the whole vocal department feels like a shout-along session the entire band decided to join in on - there's barely a moment where one voice is allowed to sing on its lonesome. However, while it's not pretty and polished, the vocal talent is glaringly present; the performance on "Perfect Love" can't be faulted for its beautiful emotional intensity. Note as well that while eclectic, the record manages to deliver the kind of memorable melodies you'd expect from a band like The Killers. The closing cut's rhythmic ending chant of "Heaven is sewn in my skin" is fantastically infectious while musical intelligent (in its own unintelligible way). The magnitude of chaos within 'Sneek Peeks At Magic Moments' guarantees it not be an all round people pleaser, and admittedly there are moments where the entropy exceeds the effective quota, but if you're the indie type fed up with cookie-cutter rock worship, give the disc a spin and you may be proclaiming it your gem of the year."- Martin Smith for CROSSRHYTHMS
"Listen to an Agents of Future song and you’ll get some idea of what Fadel is getting at when he talks about the inclusion-through-arts model of Love is Concrete: It’s chaotic and sloppy, breathlessly urgent, childlike worship of God (one song mostly repeats the shouted refrain: “You did what you promised you would do!”), and there are clearly “too many” people — dozens — in the band. It’s a joyful noise that could clearly only come from the kind of spontaneous collaboration Love is Concrete advocates."- Joel Hartse for SOJOURNERS magazine
"Agents of Future bring the raw passionate worship like you don't get almost anywhere else. i've seen them play in clubs, at festivals, in church, in parks, and in living rooms. the element of hunger/thirst - the desperation in what they're going after in God - is undeniable."
- Glen Galloway, Soul Junk
"Aaron (Strumpel) was joined by fellow Worship Circler Todd Berger along with Todd and Angie Fadel from Agents of Future for their four song set. Right from the start, Aaron’s solid songwriting abilities was complemented by Berger and Angie's instrumentation and ignited by Todd’s physical vigor that assimilated a presence on stage that would not be forgotten even after the rest of the bands played that night. Acoustic, piano, harmony, synth, trumpet, tom drum, and a unique percussion set (which included a typewriter) rounded up like a herd of pachyderm setting forth to take you on a soulful journey. And with the strength of an Elephant, you were going to be moved whether you originally wanted to or not."
-RELEVANT magazine
"Agents Of Future is like a glorious and wonderful mess on stage -- crowded with cascading voices of joy. It's a left-of-center musical approach, with jam band parts, part Joe Cocker at Woodstock, and parts Worship Circle and Caedmon's Call. A great modern and unique call to worship that's effective in breaking through the crusty, dry exterior of scenester kids with the joy and brokenness of the Holy Spirit."
- Doug Van Pelt, HM Magazine Editor
"The music/art/experience/worship that springs from Agents of Future's love for Portland is the kind of stuff that makes my bones shake, my heart race, and want God with more honesty and desperation then my mind can handle. Please, if there was only one band to listen to this month or even year, Agents of Future would be my pick."
- Aaron Strumpel, Enter the Worship Circle
"Agents of Future are without a doubt the most passionate performers I've seen, save Roger Clyne and Bruce Springsteen. Singing at the top of their lungs and squeezing their eyes tight, is nothing compared to the energy they harness from the Spirit, riding it up the hillside and begging for more. Their pleas of comfort, strength, and love come wrapped in small songs made larger than life with their sheer intensity. Todd Fadel can brood a melody underneath your skin and scream praises like no man I've heard before. Angie Fadel releases surge after surge of pure vocal power from their humble book of well-worn prayers. Agents of Future can strip the cool off the room and stain the floors with honesty, emotion and a darker shade of pale."
- John Kerns, Minister of Music, Spirit Garage Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN
"Agents of Future: Intense, hard-driving, soulful innovation in a coherent husband-wife duo, joyfully synergizing new sounds and ideas in alternative rock and worship music. I absolutely love their passion for creating their varied brands of music, then delivering the goods on stage or in any venue with even more passion and soul. Their music is cutting edge, deeply engaging of heart and mind, poignant, spiritually aware and sometimes even witty, but alway LOUD and clear."
- Jim Au, President, Impact Media Ministries, Portland, OR
"Agents of Future has a chaotic beauty that actually embodies the authenticity post-modern theologians and liturgi-geeks have been busy promoting, only they come by it effortlessly. Agents of Future brings you into the presence of God at an amazing volume."
- Gretchen Mertes, Minister of Music, St. Matthews Lutheran Church, Renton, WA
