BIRMINGHAM – The lyrics are strong and without diving into the meaning, some may require coaxing back into the record. That’s the beauty of “Beelzebub,” the eighth track off “Power Under Control.”

“I know the church is a whore. But she’s my mother and I love her,” Islander front man Mikey Carvajal sings to open the track.

Most think the original quote came from either St. Augustine or Dorothy Day, but Carvajal heard it through a friend.

“I liked it because so many times people say, ‘Christians, they’re just so hypocritical…’” he said prior to Sunday’s show at Zydeco.

Sure, the church is full of hypocrites. If not, Christians might just be perfect with no need for the church. God gave us the church for the sinner. That’s everyone. Christians go to church in full admittance of failure.

“At the end of the day, my family’s my family,” Carvajal said. “I might not agree with what they’re doing, but I’m going to love them through it, through their hardships, their dirt so to speak.  Because I really need people to love me through mine.”