| |
| Hint: Follow a reviewer to be notified when they post reviews. | Author's Rating
Inside AP.net
| Jaguar Love - Take Me to the Sea | Jaguar Love – Take Me to the Sea
Record Label: Matador Records
Release Date: April 19, 2008
If these irritatingly lovable vocals sound familiar to you, there’s a reason. This is Cody Votolato and Johnny Whitney’s third band together within the last few years (Blood Brothers, Neon Blonde), and they’ve done very little to switch up their frontman formula. However, on the bright side, they’ve done very little to switch up their frontman formula. Take Me to the Sea is just absolutely ridiculous in all the right ways, and it’ll dry the tears of Blood Brothers mourners everywhere.
Obviously in ditching the other members of their decade-spanning cult-favorite group but still sticking together themselves, Votolato and Whitney were looking to redefine themselves. That explains Neon Blonde, their piano based indie-dance group, but Jaguar Love sounds exactly like what the Blood Brothers would have sounded like in 2008 – this is a totally logical follow up to Young Machetes in every way. It’s got a lot of not-typically-punk flourishes, sure, but it’s probably more straight forward than Crimes (and it’s a lot better of an album, too.)
Augmenting the lineup slightly, drummer Jay Clark (formerly of Pretty Girls Make Graves) adds a nice backbone here, never overly showy but definitely talented and interesting. You’ll probably forget he’s even there as the other two tend to steal the show, but he’s credited with some bass and keyboard playing as well so give the man his due. This isn’t really a percussionist’s album anyway; it’s a chorus album, and choruses there are a-plenty. Just like any Blood Brothers fan would expect, Take Me to the Sea is just a very exciting album – it definitely gets you involved and singing along, even though there is no goddamn way you can reach those falsetto notes*.
“Vagabond Ballroom” rocks, guided by Whitney’s ridiculous scream, some seriously creepy guitar, and an explosive chorus – listen for the organ freakout towards the end. But it’s tracks like “Bats Over the Pacific Ocean” that’ll surprise you the most with its stripped down, folky sound. Thanks to the bells over the chorus, you could definitely picture somebody like Feist singing on this tune. It really is incredible that Whitney’s scream and Votolato’s shaky mumbling can fit so well, basically unchanged, in a new environment such as this.
Of course, Take Me to the Sea has the potential to be very, very hated by plenty of people. The vocals will take some getting used to if you haven’t already heard them, and even after that, this group can’t be everybody’s cup of tea. But if you’ve got any interest in the Blood Brothers or if you’re tired of hearing the same kinds of groups over and over under the heading of ‘Indie Rock’, this should be right up your alley.
Don’t Believe Me?
www.myspace.com/jaguarlove
Recommended If You Like:
Blood Brothers’ Young Machetes, Blood Brothers’ Crimes, Neon Blonde (but much better)… There’s little else to compare these guys to.
*Is there a higher note classification than “falsetto?” |
|
|
Displaying posts 1 - 15 of 34. |
09:18 AM on 09/25/08 | Highways of Go-oo-old, Where do they Go-o-o?
Catchy tune. | | |
|
09:21 AM on 09/25/08 | nice review, eric. im a big fan of this album, hopefully this will get some more people to check it out! | | |
|
09:24 AM on 09/25/08 | I don't think love and Jaguars mix but I'll scope this out anyway. | | |
|
09:46 AM on 09/25/08 | Let's Go Pens! And Yanks! Great album. I agree that this would be the Blood Brothers next album if they had stayed together. | | |
|
10:22 AM on 09/25/08 | I guess I really don't agree that this is what the next Blood Brothers album would sound like.
Nevertheless, excellent album, much more accessible than Neon Blonde and catchy as fuck. | | |
|
10:35 AM on 09/25/08 | If this is what the next Blood Brothers album would sound like, I'd forget the reasons to why I ever liked Blood Brothers in the first place in a heartbeat. Sad to say it. | | |
|
10:45 AM on 09/25/08 | an 8.75 in lasting value? really? do you honestly see this album being listenable in 5 years? or even 3 years for that matter? this band is fun, as were the blood brothers, and i loved the blood brothers and like this band, but theres no way this stuff will be relevant for very long. | | |
|
10:47 AM on 09/25/08 | wait. what were we talking about? slick review...f the haters!!! | | |
|
10:57 AM on 09/25/08 | Very good album, but this is a lot less hardcore than the Blood Brothers were, even in Young Machetes. Crimes blows this out of the water, too. | | |
|
11:02 AM on 09/25/08 | AP.Net's Resident AtoZ Fan HAte this album, but good review nonetheless. | | |
|
11:11 AM on 09/25/08 | It was ok, wouldn't call it blood brothers material. | | |
|
11:34 AM on 09/25/08 | Haven't checked out the album, but checked out this band when they opened for The Faint...
not very awesome
and i LOVED the Blood brothers | | |
|
11:40 AM on 09/25/08 | For me it's kind of like a lot of people's beef with the current incarnation of Don Cab, although it has to do with change in aesthetic rather than personnel alterations: I lost interest in TBB after Burn, Piano Island, Burn because they too explicitly embraced their cabaret influences. Yet with this, because there's no TBB tag, I can stomach it. | | |
|
|
| Options
More From This Author Buy the Music |
Browse Reviews
Write a Review
Alphabetized Listing
Popular Reviews
Best New Music
View Artist Profile
View News Articles
Stream the Music
Buy the Album or MP3s
View Profile Picture
View Signature
Posts: 3,230
View Blog
Follow This Review
More Reviews By This Author