Album Review: The Jazz June – “After the Earthquake”

Topshelf Records has a place near and dear to my heart.

It’s the label that signed one of the bands that I sat in awe watching back in the 10th grade days of post-rock yore. Now that I get to review one of their newest releases, I can take a little taste of their full catalog. The Jazz June is my first victi-I mean, review. Hailing from Philadelphia, I thought these guys were gonna be your typical pop-punk quartet of teenagers. (I actually thought they were a jazz band because of the name, but I digress). I was pleasantly surprised with the first two songs that breathed a little bit of somber and blissfully apathetic life into my library.

“Over Underground” has the intro of something a little dreamier than what pop-punkers now bring to the table, but it evolves into a catchy song with a really aggressive hook that the vocalist really doesn’t use in the next couple of tracks. This is basically the storm before the calm (yes you read that right). “After the Earthquake” has this style akin to The Dismemberment Plan. The humdrum vocals against a medium-speed beat make for a very relaxing tune, like a calming wave on a gloomy day at the beach. “It Came Back” is a brilliantly classic alternative rock instrumental with something that reminds of late 90’s early 2000’s rock songs, and it gets me nostalgic. Also, during the second verse there’s a point where you can’t tell if the instrument in the background is a piano or guitar, and it’s just mysteriously satisfying.

“Stuck on Repeat” brings me back to the halcyon indie rock days of Smashing Pumpkins clones complete with the sliding guitars that are dissonant, yet groovy. “Ain’t It Strange” reminds me of Los Campesinos! and the entire catalog of bands that talk about how much they want to leave the town. However, these guys do seem to something else away from their younger counterparts, they manage to make the stories of love, boredom, and homesickness an adult thing that many in my age group feel.

I don’t feel as strongly about the lead single off the album, “Edge of Space” or “With Honors”. They seem more or less like stuff that you’ve heard on Joyce Manor, but without the PUNK angst and apathy. But with everything that’s on this album, it sounds clean. Gorgeously produced, nothing too distorted, as alternative as it can get with the production. The album as a whole has enough rockin’ variety to keep you dancing and to keep you entertained, but never enough to overwhelm or bore you.