AWmusic

Since the demise of the Blood Brothers, the band’s sound has essentially been split in half, Jaguar Love and Past Lives. Past lives is steeped slightly more in the dissonance and punk of the Blood Brothers, while Jaguar Love has taken on a sound more akin to Jay Clark’s former band, Pretty Girls Make Graves. Some call Jaguar Love a superband, and there was certainly a lot of anticipation leading up to their full length release.

In my opinion it’s a shame, since the Blood Brothers last album was one of the best they had ever released and seemed to hold a lot of promise for the future. But after listening to even one Jaguar Love song, it should become clear to any listener why the Blood Brothers chose to go separate ways. As far as Take Me to the Sea goes, I won’t go as far to say that it’s unlistenable or a trainwreck, but it is definitely the most disappointing effort from singer/keyboardist Johnny Whitney.

I single him out because in the Blood Brothers he was an enjoyable focal point of the band, and frankly, in Jaguar Love he seems to be the one thing pulling the music down. Now in the indie rock setting, Johnny’s signature screech is replaced by unconcernedly offkey vocalizations and anti-climactic vocal melodies that don`t seem to know where they`re going. Johnny has shoved pop vocals into a punk vocalist and it just comes off plain sloppy. Unfortunately the lyrics only make things worse. From the childish call and response of “Jaguar Pirates,“ obnoxiously cryptic “Vagabond Ballroom,“ and the painful line from “Georgia“ that is impossible to ignore, “So grab a microphone put the tape in press record, Georgia can you hear my heart explode? “ Not all the lyrics are atrocious, and some of them remind me that Johnny is still brilliant at heart, it just doesn`t come across well in this album.

Of course when it comes down to it, to each his own with lyrics, and if it were just for lyrics that didn`t sit right with me I would definitely have a positive outlook on this album. After all, the instrumental aspects of Take Me to the Sea are outstanding, and complimented by strong production values. Cody has brought the fury of the Blood Brothers to Jaguar Love, while still maintaining to keep it in the indie rock style, and Jay Clark brings a Mars Volta-like energy to the band that almost makes the album very enjoyable. I would say that certain moments are in fact enjoyable. There are several bursts of high energy on “Humans Evolve into Skyscrapers“ and `Jaguar Pirates,“ and the times that Johnny does let loose and bring the energy of his singing up to par with the rest of the band are good ones.

In the end though, I just don`t believe that Johnny was cut out for this kind of music. I would be surprised if this album appealed to very many people who weren`t hardcore Johnny Whitney or PGMG fans already.

Jaguar Pirates by Jaguar Love
Highways of Gold by Jaguar Love