This is fine.
Friday was filled with a bit of hubbub, which was entirely fair. But, in the end, once we got in, the only thing that mattered was friends and music, so we’ll just focus on those things. Read on below for our varying thoughts. Read more
When the Jaguar Love project first came to fruition, it was initially 2 parts Blood Brothers and 1 part Pretty Girls Make Graves. They released an incredible single with “Highways of Gold.” That was then. Now the band is 2 parts Blood Brothers and no parts PGMG; will this affect the sound of Hologram Jams? The answer is yes, and you’ll be surprised how much.
Take Me to the Sea, the group’s first album was fueled with the energy you would expect from Blood Brothers, but this new band doesn’t even really resemble anything of that, other than that you can always recognize Johnny Whitney’s vocals. That’s about the only thing remaining that you will find on Hologram Jams.
Unfortunately, the missing percussionist Jay Clark really leaves a huge gaping whole in the music. Instead of turning to another drummer, the remaining duo went straight to a drum machine. The Nylon Tour in 09′ featured the group as such, but many hoped that this was just a temporary solution. Without Clark, the beats seem really uninspired, and the guitars of Cody Votalato don’t really add an extra dimension. If you take “Cherry Soda,” it just sounds like programmed beats with auto-tune.
After all the promise of the early recordings of this band, Hologram Jams is an enormous let down. Lyrically, it just seems extremely cheesy. Here’s a sample from “Up All Night” : “We stayed up all night, and saw the sun come up.” This is disheartening, as the lyrics just come across as if they were written by a teenager in the midst of his first experience with partying.
While your nostalgic tendencies want to recall the glory dates of Blood Brothers, this album seems to damage everything that they established. People remarked that this was a New Order meets Black Flag, but instead it comes across like a hardcore Kesha album, only cheesier.
Perhaps the criticism is extremely unfair, and I’m being overly harsh. I thought about that sincerely, especially after I praised this band all during the summer of 08, but I feel like I owe every person who read that stuff an apology. This is possibly one of the least enjoyable listening experiences of my life. I can back this up with four simple comments: 1) These sound like the beats already programmed into any keyboard you buy at Wal-Mart 2) The guitar doesn’t even seem to serve a purpose on this record 3) Lyrics are pre-pubescent 4) I just deleted this from my iTunes.
Sorry guys, but while I love early Jaguar Love moments, Hologram Jams is the least listenable thing I’ve come across in a lifetime.
You know if you’ve been following our site that we loved the Blood Brothers, then moved on to loving Jaguar Love. Now we’ve got another family relative of Blood Brothers, this time from former lead singer Jordan. His new group Past Lives isn’t quite in the same world as his former band, though their first single “Hex Takes Hold” did have some of the vocal memories. This new one, however, slowly trods along, almost as if they are playing with some slo-core stylings. You be the judge. And if you like it, grab Tapestry of Webs on February 23rd.
Download: Past Lives – Deep In The Valley [MP3]
Rating: 
When I first head about the union of former Pretty Girls Make Graves member, Jay Clark, with two of the Blood Brothers, I was salivating in wake for the release of a full length. The potential for this combination could reach no bounds in my imagination, but come to find out, there are some boundaries for this band.
The opening track, “Highways of Gold,” fails to let me down. Each time I play this song I’m invigorated by the rise and fall of the guitar work, as it approaches the angular tour de force that I anticipated. Had they reined it in about thirty seconds, then this could be a front runner for one of my favorites of the year.
I suppose that at this point, I should let you know that singer Johnny Whitney’s voice can be grating. Personally, I’ve adapted to it after settling in to several Blood Brothers’ albums, but I can foresee this as a problem for many listeners. If you can’t look past it in the first song, then you can’t get through this album.
Still, the next three songs are solid tracks. In particular, “Georgia” won me over with its proximity to a modern indie ballad done in the post-punk way. Lyrically, these songs set the face, from the doomsday homages in “Jaguar Pirates” to the personal pain that comes with “Georgia,” which still kind of deals with the effects of living in the modern world.
However, the album starts to get repetitive at this point. The musicianship is exactly what you expect, with tight drumming and throbbing bass, piled upon razor-sharp guitars, but at this point it kind of blends into itself. There isn’t any differentiation in the vocals, and the music, like a Blood Brothers album, or the later Pretty Girls Make Graves records for that fact. It’s not that the music is uninteresting, but the pace and power disappear.
Then comes the eighth track on the record, “Bone Trees and a Broken Heart,” which is another slow song for the group. Strangely, their slower songs are just as intriguing to my ears as their louder material. For me, it represents the talent this group possesses, not to mention their abilities to go pretty much anywhere on this record. It’s just too bad that they don’t really go anywhere, aside from the expected barrage of noise I predicted in my earlier fantasies of this band.
Once you get away from Whitney’s vocals, you’ll find–those of you that like to rock–that this record has a lot of redeemable qualities about it. It’s listenable all the way through, at least for those of this ilk. It might not be anything that takes you out of this world, but then again, it meets almost all of my expectations. Good start fellas, now hit the showers.
I just recently picked up this fanciful new EP from Jaguar Love–featuring two members of The Blood Brothers and one young gent from Pretty Girls Make Graves. Now, if you are expecting a conglomeration of post-punk sounds, well, you are pretty close with that one . The single “Highways of Gold” is incredible, putting me on the edge of my seat for the full-length–which is set to arrive in stores on August 19th via Matador Records. My one warning–and those of you that liked The Blood Brothers will know–the enjoyment of J. Whitney’s voice must come with time.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/01-highways-of-gold1.mp3]Download: highwaysofgold.mp3
