Inside the Hyperreal World of Jesus Christ Taxi Driver

What would happen if Jesus Christ were to return among us, as promised? In the worldview of Jesus Christ Taxi Driver, typically skeptical, only occasionally literal, he reappears not in glory but behind the wheel of a cab, collecting fares to put food on the table. So much for the American Dream. The concept is knowingly tongue-in-cheek, but its critique of disillusionment recalls the likes of Bret Easton Ellis. His novel American Psycho opens in a taxi, where two men argue furiously about New York City, treating the driver as someone without interiority, someone reduced entirely to function. In Jesus Christ Taxi Driver’s imagining, even divinity wouldn’t exempt you from that fate.

Comprised of brothers Ian Ehrhart and Will Ehrhart, alongside Miles Jenkins and Colin Kelly, the Colorado-based band draws from a wide palette that complements the hyperrealist tones they interrogate. On their debut album, “Lick My Soul,” their instrumental approach leans heavily into rock ’n’ roll: psychedelic riffs come into play one after another, only to collide with lyrics that deliberately resist cohesion. One might expect such havoc to be matched with Led Zeppelin-level mysticism; instead, the band opts for satire, poking fun at rock stardom, religious delusion, and the News Feed™. It’s an irreverence that signals fluency, their grasp of rock history and its surrounding culture is unmistakable. When asked about influences, they converge on a shared: The Flamin’ Groovies, The Nerves, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Ted Hawkins.

The group’s chemistry is immediately « aww » inducing. Even over Zoom, compliments ricochet between them. “Colin was in another band that was very inspirational to us as kids,” Ian says, and adds, “Miles is just like, you know, the best drummer in town. He's the guy, he's just the best.” That mutual admiration translates directly into the music. As accomplished as they are instrumentally, what distinguishes them is their willingness to indulge: extended solos, off-kilter backing vocals, and knowingly playful lyrics all contribute to their distinct, self-stamped charm.

Their fascination with religious imagery stems, in part, from a kind of reclamation. “I think that comes from growing up, going to Catholic school and, reckoning with that. When you’re a kid, you just soak in everything and when somebody tells you that you're gonna go to hell because you’ve been thinking about boobs or whatever, it gets scary.”

Their new record, “Taxi The Rich,” retains the band’s postmodern, religious, and deeply parodic sensibility, while making space for something more vulnerable: poppier melodies, a lighter tonal palette, and songs that move with a newfound ease. “The way that the record was conceived was mainly us just getting together in a room and playing until things started to sound like a song.” says Colin. “ Ian wrote the entire first record and recorded it without us, and we all joined after the record was done. As we wrote this one together, it has a little bit from everybody. I think we really want this to be an outlet for all of our creativity individually. So we try to do everything together as much as we can.” That collaborative spirit, shaped as much by eight-hour van rides as by studio sessions, pushes the songs into unexpected territory.

Tracks like Our World and White Roses drift into something more dreamlike. “That song is about witnessing your parents' marriage fall apart. trying to be the hero and saving the day, and it doesn't go how you think it's gonna go. And. It's a kind of a personal experience of mine, and it took a long time for me to want to write about it, or for it to even come to the surface and manifest in a musical way. “ Colin says for White Roses. Unlike much of the band’s earlier material, he wasn’t certain the song would cohere. “When it came time to record the record, it was unanimously approved by everybody to be on the record. I wasn't sure if it would fit, but at the very core of this band, and I think we can all agree that we’re big lovers of pop music. I think we were going for like a very '60s pop thing with it.“ That sensibility carries into Our World, a track whose dreamlike atmosphere feels like a momentary clearing, open skies amid the album’s denser sound. “We were just messing with things along with the producer, Nate Cook, and trying to discover different avenues of different songs, and a lot of songs morphed in that process.” they explain. The result is a record that moves fluidly between absurdist conceits, Jesus immigrating to New York to drive a taxi, and more intimate, emotionally grounded terrain.

A Joni Mitchell-esque lightness runs through the album, offering a necessary counterbalance to its sharper subject matter: Epstein-era, postmodern fragmentation, and the band’s instinct to satirize both. “I think it's kind of really serendipous how we wrote this album called Taxi the Rich, and now we're, you know, discovering that the rich, the 1% is controlling everything and titting us against each other,It seems to be the right time for this album to be out. “ says Ian. 

For Jesus Christ Taxi Driver, music feels not a career choice but more of a condition of being. They love it all. The eight-hour drives, the post-show loadouts, the long studio days, even the occasional near-empty rooms, they embrace all of it. “If we drive eight hours and show up to the venue and there's, like, five people there, we're just excited to get out of the van and freak out after all those hours without moving. There's a lot of energy to release, we don’t care who is in the crowd, we give the same intensity no matter what.” they explain. Onstage, that ethos is unmistakable: They prowl every inch of the space available to him, Ian's legs shaking in zebra-print pants in the meantime.

“Taxi The Rich,” the band’s second album, captures a band in transition, no longer content to simply look outward, but equally willing to turn inward, carving out a path that feels this time around, genuinely open-ended.