The tag “electronica” has been appended to many Rock band’s genre list almost by default these days, as long as they meet the minimum requirement of at least one keyboard in evidence.
JetKing are in this category - although they have quite a bit of electonics on many of the tracks, they should be honest and describe themselves as out and out indie rock. There is nothing to be ashamed of in this – wear your badge with pride!
This album is full of peaks and dips – not in quality of the material, more in the way the songs play with your emotions and adrenaline level. For instance, I felt the pull from acousto-grunge slowy “Reasons to Disappear” to next track “Weasel MD” – a cocky, groove-based dose of indie aggression and swagger.
The vocals are pretty calm and measured throughout – clean and clear and sometimes fuzzed up (in an intentional way) to suit the songs – although it feels as though the vocalist needed to let go a bit more in places. This calmness doesn’t filter through to the music, though, which is as edgy and paranoid as you could care to mention a lot of the time.
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It’s an impressive debut overall with a variety of fairly lo-fi indie goodness on offer, and a special mention has to be for the Graham Coxon-esque dynamics-shifting on “You’ve Made a Big Mistake” – by far the most immediate track on the album.
Go forth and discover just what indie rock is all about at this point in time – it’s a snapshot of what most bands should be aspiring to. Keep on keeping on…
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