The Jazz June "Better Off Without Air" CD
[Initial]
I don't like this as much as their last record. It's along the same lines as far as being based largely around indie rock styles or whatever you want to call it, but it's not really as intricate or interesting and the approach as a whole has taken as many steps back as it has forward. The result is equal parts excellent and boring. Imagine throwing Fugazi in a blender with U2 and some 70's inspired rock/blues/jazz inspirations. I love the rhythm section, but the guitar parts and keyboards (when present) can be obnoxious, as are some of the vocals (see "Uptown Explosion", which is rather annoying and lacking in energy, despite some strong points and a flawless performance from the bass/drums). I prefer the softer, straightforward singing to anything else, but the fact that there are a lot of instrumentals doesn't really help matters. Especially when it comes to "Dual Symmetry" - a typical brief foray into the electronic realm that feels out of place, unnecessary, and they honestly don't even pull it off. The songs are also shorter and they're not really going for the amusing song titles this time around, both of which are strong decisions that don't have that much of an impact here because the songwriting just isn't doing it for me. The recording is very good. That's the one thing that I really like about this CD. The drums sound fucking perfect, I really like the volume and tone of the bass, and the guitars and vocals fit in nicely without overpowering anything (even though they can be out front sometimes). But again, the rhythm section truly shines, and musically that's the best thing about this material. I like the layout. It's simple but effective. All of the photos are sort of artsy in that they're blurry but very interesting and colorful at the same time, and then there are some stark black textures layered all around (random little shapes, some sort of diagram, and so on). The lyrics are also presented in a really precise and compact format, and I'm always a fan of that. I like the content of the lyrics as well, just because the flow is really unusual and you can't exactly gauge what's going on. "Curtains close on dead affairs don't buy the papers this all already happened before priests have stolen the paper work cops are crying they never heard about this before office opens at 7 AM we'll be waiting with knives and broken bottles in hand to poke some holes in your story you could have made a better liar if your prints were never published before..." They're not stagnating, I'll give 'em that. But I was hoping for more from this one... (6/10)
Running time - 42:29, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Drugs and Models, Better Off Without Air, Red Bank Blues]
Initial Records - http://www.initialrecords.com

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