His Name is Alive - Mouth by Mouth (93)

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01 Baby Fish Mouth
02 Lip
03 Cornfield
04 In Every Ford
05 Lord, Make a Channel of Your Peace
06 Drink, Dress, and Ink
07 Where Knock is Open Wide
08 Can't Go Wrong Without You
09 Jack Rabbits
10 Sort Of
11 Sick
12 Blue Moon
13 Ear
14 Lemon Ocean
15 The Torso
16 The Dirt Eaters

1993's Mouth by Mouth marks a high point in His Name Is Alive's career, consolidating the band's musical elements — sweet vocals, technicolor production, evocative guitar work, and arty arrangements — into 16 songs that are as diverse as they are cohesive.

Memories of Michigan summertimes, Theodore Roethke's poetry, and sensuality collide, creating the fractured sugar-pop of "Baby Fish Mouth" and "Lip," which sit comfortably beside the stark, cello-driven "Cornfield."

The band's sinister side pops up on "Ear," a deadpan retelling of Vincent van Gogh's self-amputation.

Mouth by Mouth "rocks" more than any of the band's previous work, thanks to the continued involvement of the Dirt Eaters; they are credited with the album's louder songs, such as the fuzzed-out "Drink, Dress and Ink" and "The Torso.

His Name is Alive - Ft. Lake (98)

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01 - Don't Glue the World
02 - Everything Takes Forever
03 - The Waitress
04 - No Hiding Place Down Her
05 - Can't Always be Loved
06 - Wish I Had a Wishing Ring
07 - Red Haired Girl
08 - Spirit Needs a Spirit Tool
09 - Up Your Legs Forever
10 - How it's Gotta Be
11 - Always Turn Me On
12 - Rock 'n' Roll Girl from Rock 'n' Roll City
13 - Last American Blues

His Name Is Alive's fifth 4AD release, Ft. Lake, is their most complex and accomplished, pulling together the dreamy experimentalism of their early work with the poppy, soulful tendencies of Stars on E.S.P and Nice Day, and adding a few new twists.

"The Waitress" adds drum machines and keyboards for a new wave sheen, while the slinky "No Hiding Place Down Her" has enough soul for a dozen Top 40 R&B singles.

As on the Nice Day EP, Lovetta Pippen's voice sounds wonderful, whether she's dueting with Karin Oliver on "Everything Takes Forever" or taking center stage on the epic, Hendrix-inspired "Wish I Had a Wishing Rin.