Jaill Thats How We Burn (Sub Pop)
5/5
By: Charlie Hearn
The relatively recent re-emergence of unadulterated pop music as a global commodity has seen major labels gobble up floundering artists and spit out chart toppers with enough character and charisma to make the likes of Kylie quake in her boots. If you’re not causing a scene then you’re not making an impact, a sentiment that I’m sure pop princess Lady Gaga could vouch for last month as she collected her eight accolades at the MTV Video Music Awards in a dress made entirely out of cuts of meat. This glammed up brand of hyper-pop with all the subtlety of a diva’s fit has gradually become the norm, and it’s difficult to find a set of pop sensibilities that don’t revolve around the idea of world domination.
However, for as many fame monsters as the genre harbours there are just as many unsung heroes, except they’re harder to find as they tend to spend the majority of their time in a spare bedroom somewhere in Wisconsin. Meet Jaill, a bunch of mates who spent a large portion of the previous decade creating self described psych-pop in a make shift home studio. That’s How We Burn is by no means the bands first stab at a full length effort though; in 2009 Jaill released and promoted There’s No Sky (Oh My My) off their own backs, and subsequently attracted the justified attention of independent kingpins Sub Pop.
The album opens tentatively, with just enough urgency to suggest a vague sense of purpose. Well versed guitar riffs and half hidden melodies function seamlessly alongside each other to maintain the attention of an otherwise restless audience. Rock orientated percussion and song structure provides the back bone, a solid platform for the pop elements to work their magic and seep through without saturating the sound. The result is a lively, danceable blend of independent pop, crowned by Vincent Kircher’s dead pan poetry to etch out a personality and provide just about the right amount of punk influence.
It’s easy to get lost in this album as everything comes across so effortlessly. After a few spins it’s not hard to conceive that Jaill’s SubPop debut could have just as easily arrived to you on a burnt CD via one of your own mates. That’s by no means degrading the bands musicianship, in fact it’s complimenting their ability to suck you into their world as you find yourself disappearing into a mid-west microcosm on a cold October afternoon.
That’s How We Burn’s tendency to lean on a set formula is its only niggling annoyance, as there’s not a great deal of variation to pick one song out from another. However, given the right mindset, this degree of consistency only adds to the idea of the album as body of work that should be viewed as a whole. A familiarity with the record is required before subtleties start to present themselves, at which point it’s very difficult to hold anything against this fairly flawless release.
Jaill - That's How We Burn by subpop
Artists in this article: Jaill
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