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| Jawbreaker - Live 4/30/96 Sounds great. Worth it for the first three songs alone...live and raw versions of "Jinx Removing," "Save Your Generation," and "Ashtray Monument." For suckers like me that never got to see these guys live, I"m so glad this exists. (Blackball Records c/o Revolver) |
Jets to
Brazil - Perfecting Loneliness Their best album. The loud songs are incredibly memorable; the quiet songs are tenderly heartbreaking. A very mature record featuring hyper-intelligent and self-conscious lyrics and the music of one of the most powerful bands around. (Jade Tree) Jimmy Eat World - Lucky Denver Mint EP I just about wore out my needle listening to the A-side of their Static Prevails LP. I just went back and listened to the B-side, which had remained somewhat untouched, for a clue as to the jump from the Sunny Day-ish rock of those blistering first songs on the A-side to the Duran Duran/Glass Tiger feel of these new songs. I think I figured it out. Instead of the quiet verse-loud chorus approach, this time out they opt to keep the volume no louder than the quietest moments of Static Prevails. This EP"s a winner because of "softer" and "rollergirl." (Fueled by Ramen) |
| The Jealous
Sound - Kill Them with Kindness In 2000, The Jealous Sound released one of the most impressive debuts of that year. And then came the wait. First their label was swallowed up and then they were neither able to put out another record nor find another home. Thankfully, with a new label and the aid of a first-rate producer (Tim O"Heir), these songs are now available to the public. The Jealous Sound has retained much of the soft-loud dynamic that is present on the self-titled EP, but they"ve expanded their sound to include samplers and keyboards on few tracks. To grasp how far this band has come, one only has to compare the version of "Anxious Arms" to the version on the EP. You get the feeling that this is a band in the midst of creating something really wonderful. These are powerful and poignant songs that sound like little else around at present. The quiet songs are devastatingly heartbreaking, the rock songs just outright slay. Singer Blair Shehan (ex-Knapsack) is at the top of his game on this record, writing songs that convey an extremely high level of emotional depth while still maintaining a punch. And the rest of the band steps up as well; the combination of Pedro Benito (Sunday"s Best)"s guitar lines, John McGinnis" bass parts, and Tony Palermo (Pulley)"s drumming create a formidable presence that serve the songs well, creating a big sound that envelopes Shehan"s melodies like a glove. One of 2003"s best. (Better Looking Records) |
Joan of Arc - Live in Chicago, 1999 The cover and book of this album contain snapshots of recreations of scenes from Jean Luc-Godard's film Weekend. The film itself is a discussion of society's ills as seen through the eyes of a miserable couple that travels throughout France by car. I was expecting a similar sort of travelogue with this album, but found no sort of direction with the music on the album at all. This album sounds like a rough draft (is that the desired effect?) while the listener must wait to see the real songs played out live. (Jade Tree) Joshua - A Whole New Theory I had heard of the Joshua, but this was my first listen. Tight songs wound around lyrics written by a man obviously working some things out. I really love the back-to-back pairing of "Just Can"t Change, " a high-energy rocker, with "Pull Me Out," a song that builds from a slow start to a brilliant (and really catchy) chorus. Fits nicely in between Seaweed and Compound Red. (Doghouse) |
| Jejune - Junk I peeled away the packaging to reveal the newest offering from Big Wheel Recreation. The lyrics were included as a blueprint for a schooner. Expecting more tunes about sailing á la June of '44, I was surprised. It was obvious that Jejune abandoned a Sunday cruise for an all-out naval attack. A touch of feedback followed by a full-speed rocker bridged by harmonics. "Araby" is followed-up by what sounded at first glance like a Texas is the Reason out-take. The difference was the strength of the vocals and lyrics of bassist Arabella Harrison. A break-up song like few others, "Greyscale" describes the feeling of being ready to move on again. Her voice alone gives me the same chills that Julie Doiron of Eric"s Trip used to, but the moments that she sings with Joseph Guevara only exploit the intelligence of this band. The louder moments of the album will make Shift fans smile, but this band lacks the other"s arrogance. Humility in brilliance is a beautiful thing, let"s hope Jejune can hold onto that. (Big Wheel Recreation) |
The Juliana
Theory/Dawson
High- split CD What a great pairing!! Two PA bands singing songs about girls and high school. The Juliana Theory features some fun guitar lines with three (and sometimes more than three!!) part harmonies, picture a slightly more punk and less arena-pop Outfield. (Maybe this is my bias since I can't stop listening to Play Deep this week.) Much more interesting than the full-length that followed this (understand this is a dream). Dawson High is a bit more poppy as in Weston/ Sinkhole poppy. Also fun. The yearbook-ish layout makes this a great find. (Arise Records) The Juliana Theory - understand this is a dream And I was excited to hear this?? Maybe I just like their sweet songs in the small doses I heard on the previous EP, but this is tough to listen to. The Get-Up Kids-lite guitar lines (which are already Superchunk-lite guitar lines) are tolerable, but those vocals, those words?? Do I need to hear "do do do do do"'s?? "Don't go, you say, as I walk out your door"?? The just out-of-high school lyrics that seemed so endearing on the EP are just unbearable now, when recast with an air of seriousness. Even the re-recording of "dj" is tough to listen to. Sugary sweet goes bitter. (Tooth and Nail Records) |
| Jejune - This Afternoon's Malady All around a much quieter and more polished album than Junk and thousands of times more polished than their 7"s. If I"m not mistaken, there"s a few more vocal over-dubs too. Ted Leo (ex-Chisel, Sin-Eaters) worked the boards and succeeded in exhibiting a crisp sound . One other addition is that Joseph takes over more of the singing duties this time out, which gives a bit more balance I suppose, but the best parts are still where he and Araby sing together. I especially like their fast songs a lot and on here, their loudest, "Coping with Senility", is also their strongest with hints of the sonic assault of Hum or even Smashing Pumpkins. I wouldn"t mind a few more of them. (Big Wheel Recreation 325 Huntington Avenue #24 Boston, MA 02115 or bigwheel98@hotmail.com) Listening to this again, it is evident that they are trying to escape some of the boxes that many would put them in. I admire the willingness to strip away some of the gunpowder that was on Junk for a slightly more taught outing. For that reason, this is a band that will always demand my attention. |
Juno - A Future Lived in Past Tense
For starters, this is an incredibly long and dense album. The thing about it is: there's no filler. It just takes repeated listens to let their sound seep into your brain. The repetition of guitar sounds frequently bleed into melodies that build and then cascade again. Much like their debut, This is the Way it Goes and Goes and Goes, they've succeeded in creating a complete and thorough album, not just a collection of songs. While its length may prevent the listener from digesting it all at once, it comes off as a strikingly fluid work, something that seems very rare these days. While not quite at that transcendent level, I will place this on the shelf next to Radiohead's OK Computer. Both record can be digested in parts, but the effect of the albums are so much greater when taken as a whole. (DeSoto) |
| Jet
By Day - Cascadia The greatest victim in the Telegraph-Kindercore merger/fallout in 2003 (in which Kindercore was bought by another company only to see their label dismantled) was this album, by Athens band Jet by Day. Finally given a release, but with no promotional team to support it, the album was basically left up to the band to promote on tour. This is a tragedy as this is an album that deserves to be heard. Clever without being pretentious, adventurous yet highly listen-able, this album defies any immediate labels and shows all the signs of a band coming into their own. The songs are incredibly memorable, which owes as much to the tricky guitar parts as David Matysiak"s vocals. "This Quiet Hell" could be the unheard club hit of the year, while "Last Call" ranks up there as one of the best all-time late-night drinking songs ever, as poignant an attempt to convince a girl to stay for one more drink as you"re like to hear. This album is melodic enough for the indie kids, with guitar solos to please the harder-edged rock fans, a tremendous mixture that is equal parts melody and noise. Definitely reccommended for fans of the Pixies, Jawbox, Archers of Loaf, and probably even Thin Lizzy. This is melodic post-punk at its finest (Kindercore) |
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