I happened to catch Jeniferever performing live in the latter half of 2008 on one of my frequent trips to the Brudenell in Leeds. They appeared to have drawn a fairly substantial crowd, and I wondered what I’d been missing. I left very little the wiser, unable to quite fathom what the fuss was about. They looked like a band in the middle of an identity crisis: the singer looks like a stereotypical US college emo kid, while one of the guitarists looked like he’d have been more at home in a Megadeth tribute act. And while many of the songs sounded promising at the outset and clearly owed much to Disintegration-era Cure, overall, they seemed a little lacking and largely dull. But what of the studio sound?
The opener and title track for this three-track EP, the cover of which features geometrical doodlings that render it not a million miles away from that of School of Seven Bells’ Alpinisms, clocks in at over 9 minutes. It’s a brave thing, and implicit of a statement of intent. But the opening bars don’t auger well: sloppy acoustic guitar and floppy generic indie vocals.... it really isn’t cool. Ah, no, wait. Very soon this gives way to sweeping Cure-esque synths and it begins to soar dreamily, even boasting a vocal delivery that Robert Smith would be proud of. While moments ago I was fearful that this would be a very long nine minutes indeed, I find myself drifting along and carried to the end all too swiftly. A couple of extra minutes wouldn’t have hurt a bit.
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‘When Our Hands Clasped’ is a more guitar-driven affair, and it’s got a robustness that’s rather surprising given my first impressions of the band. Solid, insistent drumming in combination with a dense, crunchy bass push it along with an urgency, and Kristofer Jönson’s vocals don’t detract either. As much Placebo as Cure, it’s emotive without being emo.
Closer ‘Openings to Stories’ takes Jeniferever back into familiar territory. Again, Cure-style guitars, phased and drenched in reverb chime with synths to form a meandering dreamscape, but builds toward the end to form a sound that’s rich and fills the space between the speakers with sound on sound, smooth and spacious enough to get lost in. Jeniferever might not present anything new for the older crowd, but when it’s as well written and as well-executed as this, does it really matter? These guys might even be the catalyst for a Cure revival – and I’d certainly not grumble about that.
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