It’s easy to judge “super-trio” Jaguar Love by the members’ previous musical exploits. So don’t! One part Pretty Girls Make Graves (Jay Clark – Drums, Bass, Keyboards) and two parts The Blood Brothers (Johnny Whitney – vocals, keyboard and Cody Votolato on bass and guitar), the trio use the best attributes of their preceding bands, creating a unique sound, which, if you’re keen on genres, is something like disco meets art-punk. Johnny Whitney’s vocals wander around, ignorant of their surroundings, inconsistent in mood, much like a drunk teen. It works beautifully in front of Votalato’s stellar guitar work and Clark’s frenetic and bombastic drumming technique. ‘Georgia’ is a highlight, as it lets the fearless Johnny Whitney explore the range of his voice, throwing convention to the wall and replacing it with exploratory wails and scales. ‘Vagabond Ballroom’ has all the urgency of The Blood Brothers, but has the advantage of experience to create a controlled noise environment, complete with hockey game organ hooks and brilliantly concise drumming.
After a couple of listens, I realise that this album is brilliantly consistent. Every song has its own unique and fantastic appeal, ‘Antione and Birdskull’ for example, which begins with a guitar riff which wouldn’t sound out of place on Thee Oh See’s ‘The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In’, until Whitney’s keyboard work and vocals explode into the most memorable chorus on the record.
Part of me wanted this to be bad so I could lament about ‘better times’ when The Blood Brothers were pretty much all I listened to one summer, and Pretty Girls Make Graves astounded me in a sweaty evening at The Tunnels, but this record, and this band are excellent. This album may be one of the best things out this year.