Relient K apologized for the whole “mood ringtones” thing

Let’s go! Emotional girls are all wearing mood rings!

If you came of age as a Christian sometime in the CCM Diaspora, you’re probably familiar with Relient K’s little anthem about fickle ladies and all their drama. “We all know the girls I’m talking about,” frontman Matt Thiessen sang in 2003. “They’re ticking time bombs and they’re spinning and the only question is when they’re gonna go off.”

Yeah, well. OKAY. It was a bona fide hit back when Relient K was a rising power pop band that helped prove that no everything Christian rock was bad. In fact, at this point, the band were already establishing themselves as true stars of the pop punk scene, with irresistible melodies and a sly, self-effacing sense of humor. Much of their music has aged beautifully. “Mood Rings” did not. And now the band recognizes it.

“We officially apologize,” the group wrote on TikTok. “We had a lot to do and learn, and we still have!”

This comes from Relient K’s official TikTok account as a comment on a Kirby McKenzie video. She took to TikTok to point out some of the song‘s creepiest lyrics (“she’s so pretty but she doesn’t always act that way”).

@kirbymacks

If you’re a man who went to a youth group in the early 2000s, start therapy. #therapy #exvangelical #youthgroupcheck #menneedhelp

♬ Mood Rings – Connect K

“Therapy is not enough,” she writes. “I need Christian punk band Relient K to apologize for this 2003 song.” And of course the band delivered. In fact, they posted that they were “on TikTok because of that haha”.

This apology was met with a fairly enthusiastic response from the TikTok community.

“I left the church but I stand with Relient K,” one wrote.

“Oooh the growth,” wrote another. “We like to see it.”

Truth be told, the post-hardcore scene (like third wave emo and pop punk) in the early 2000s was not good for women, either in the Christian part of that scene or outside of it. . A huge reckoning was forced in 2017 when post-hardcore icon and Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey admitted to allegedly preying on young fans. Even in 2003, women noted how few were safe in such spaces.

Obviously, nothing Relient K has done rises to the level of the very serious allegations made against some of their contemporaries at the time. But it should be noted that they were part of a larger issue that transcends their particular subculture. And it should be noted that unlike many of these other bands, they acknowledge some of their past blind spots and apologize. Seems like who they are hate who they used to be.