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| Review: Jupiter Avenue / Self-Titled |
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 I was approached by someone via e-mail who duped me into sending him a copy of Jupiter Avenue's self-titled sophomore release to do a review. After weeks of waiting and a few specious e-mails saying he'd already posted his review and / or he's send it again via e-mail (then where the f*ck is it?) I've decided to do what I should have done in the first place - write it myself. It's so hard to find good, free help these days.
Band: Jupiter Avenue
CD:Self-Titled
Review by Mitch Phillips
The Product
Hailing from somewhere in nothern Michigan, Jupiter Avenue is a five-piece alt/metal hybrid born from former members of hardcore metal band "Nail" and brother's Tim and Andy Whitmore from alt/rockers "Smoked Fish." The combo's self-titled second release has been getting air-play from UP radio stations, WKQZ and WLJZ over the last year and the group's performance took first place in a battle of the bands sponsored by Z93. Last year JA released their self-titled sophomore release on Whix Records and have been peddling it ever since.
The Praise
Jupiter Avenue jump from alternative to hardcore to hypnotic psychosis and then back again in just about every cut on this CD. You can definitely hear the Whitmore brother's (drums/guitar) "alternative" rock influences contrasting with the hardcore elements coming from singer/lyricist Chris Maxwell, Chad Okuly (guitar) and newest JA member bassist Josh Agee on the refrains. An example of this seemingly forumulaic procession of genres can be heard on Track 2, "N.B.C." perhaps the single best track on this lengthy disc due to it's infectious power-pop hook and grunge-tempered stoicism. But there are other worthy flavors on this record as well.
On track 3, "Fake", JA throws in some retro-riffs akin to Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi. Back in the day I was sick of that guitar sound, but twenty-five years later everything old is new again. It may be valid cross-over material to catch the ears of thirty-something indie-freaks like me. Fuse that reminiscent guitar tone with what sound like bongos pattering in the background and I'm a teenager again, smoking cheap homegrown and watching the meters flicker behind the green-tinged glass of my Sansui.
Track 8, "Superman (the return) is probably the best example of JA's hardcore personality, taking full advantage of slogging de-tuned guitars, migraine-pounding rhythms, roaring throaty vocals and edgy lyrics like the hero's beginning chant, "I'm a bored vigilante at night..." I love it.
On the psycho-punk side of rock we have track 12 "Chunky Spree," a hypnotic bash that proclaims in stride, "...I try and I try and I try to be / someone to destroy this new technology" and track 13, "Groovy Things" which vacillates between atonal punk and progressive jazz ala Frank Zappa. For some reason, this is the track that I find looping in my head while I'm puttering along, doing my household chores.
One of the real gems on this schizophrenic disc may have been included as an amusing afterthought. The lengthy hidden track at the end of this CD (18:34) offers a candid view of the members of Jupiter Avenue and their friends at play. In what sounds like a drunken scene around a campfire in the thick of the northern Michigan woods, the boys and girls perform an impromptu jam, beating on beer bottles, what sounds like a koto (but what may actually be a toy guitar) and anything else they can bang, pluck, smack or stroke. This goes on for about six minutes until the intoxicated crew grow bored with it and move on to conversation and playful party banter.
I was mezmerized by this track as I wandered back from the city late one Saturday night. Listening to them discover their rhythm, as if for the first time, through a haze of beer and dope was like eavesdropping on teenagers (or perhaps early twenty-somethings) in their natural habitat; an anthropological peep-show for the aural voyeur. And though the jam may have been created from intoxication, it's a sober reminder that music can be fun and that none of this shit, or my opinion for that matter, should be taken too seriously.
The Punch
Jupiter Avenue's self-titled CD begins with a deceptive electronic dance groove that disappears just about the time you get into it - and then you're knee-deep in grungy guitar and the grindcore barking you've grown accustomed to, or perhaps bored with, here in the urban southeast. I don't understand the motive for this early deception, akin to playing some great Zeppelin riff on stage only to stop suddenly and play something less engaging to the audience. If the intent was to morph the spacey beginning with the leading bass line the technique wasn't entirely convincing. Too much contrast insults the ears.
Like most of my wandering prose, it seems Jupiter Avenue couldn't decide what to leave out so they just included everything. This CD could have easily been pared down for a tighter product while retaining the charm of it's contrast of styles. Fifteen tracks isn't a meal, it's a buffet; if you try to digest the whole thing in one sitting you're gonna hurl by the time you reach the macaroni salad. The only way to get someone to sit through the whole thing is to make it an opera and tie it all together with a strong central theme. (Whatever happened to rock operas anyway?)
This CD is peppered with various samples that do add texture to the songs, but the inclusion of "SKDP" (track 7), a sample of the sophomoric crew taking turns saying "Smoke Dope" in cartoonish voices, elicits a deep groan. I may have found this cliche' funny twenty years ago but after hearing similar tripe from a dozen or so young bands it's just plain irritating now.
Special mention should be made of the lapse in the recording of the bass tracks, especially on "Fake" (Track #3). "Clippity, clip, clip, clip," goes the bass as the strings whack against the pick-ups. If bassist Josh Agee is going to attack his strings so indelicately, perhaps his action should be raised, his pick-ups lowered, or he should be banned from touching any knob with a number above 600Hz.
Presumptions
Jupiter Avenue's self-titled release has plenty of meat, but maybe too many "fixins." If you can pluck off some of the tomatoes, pickles, onions and lettuce and scrape off the excess mayonnaise what you've got is a very tasty rock n' roll burger with everything (there's that food metaphor again, I must be getting hungry). Their experimentation with varying styles of rock is a refreshing departure from the one-trick-pony syndrome that plagues most acts who dabble in grindcore. Like we've learned in the third decade of the evolution of rap, pure-beef goes down much smoother and tastes sweeter to the average palette with some spicy melodies mixed in for flavoring. Hopefully, Jupiter Avenue's music will evolve with the same sense of playfulness and adventure they've exhibited on this release, but with a more cohesive center.
- Mitch
Related Story: Random Review - Jupiter Avenue
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Average Score: 4.75
Votes: 4
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