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Alternative PressIt's the sound of three musicians playing to their strengths while challenging their songwriting style, resulting in a cohesive listen that holds your attention to the end. [Sep 2008, p.156]
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If you take a chance on just one record then make sure it’s Take Me To The Sea as it’s possibly the underground triumph of the year.
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Longing for The Blood Brothers (or even, of course, Pretty Girls Make Graves) is as futile as rating a current girlfriend against an ex: while both may have inspired your love, all that truly matters is the here and now. And Jaguar Love are very much of today. There is no turning back.
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Write off Jaguar Love at your peril; this is one of the best albums of the year so far.
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The musicianship is mature--a jangly, shifting cornucopia of guitar, bass, organs, and drums--but it is practically ignorable behind the caterwauling wail of Johnny Whitney, which takes precedence over all.
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For as combustible as they are, the songs are catchy and conducive to repeated listening.
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Wrapped up in a tidy 10 songs is an album full of kinetic exuberance, rawness and sweat that retains just enough of a pop sensibility to keep things both memorable and erratic.
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If you aren't at least a little cozy to the sound commonly produced by Whitney and company, you certainly won't be any more into Jaguar Love. Well, that may not be totally accurate, as I can see this being some of most accessible stuff spawned by any Blood Brothers alumni.
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A few duds aside, the album succeeds as an ecstasy pop update on the Blood Brothers’ delirious chaos and nobody who purports to miss that band should ignore it.
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They’re still working out the kinks, though, so a few tracks fail to match their ambition.
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Johnny Whitney has made an art of singing like a deliriously deaf 12-year-old, but the debut of his new trio with Blood Brothers bandmate/guitarist Cody Votolato and ex–Pretty Girls Make Graves guitarist Jay Clark (now on drums) plays like a preteen daydream.
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Like the Blood Brothers, Take Me to the Sea is united by Whitney's voice, impossible to ignore as it slides between seemingly any style that could be described using the verb "wail."
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His voice is annoying the way a fuzz guitar is overdriven: That's its point. Getting past it isn't always easy, but it can be rewarding as Whitney proved with his prior band, Seattle's Blood Brothers, and demonstrates intermittently at the head of Jaguar Love.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 11
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Mixed: 2 out of 11
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Negative: 3 out of 11
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EricH.Sep 19, 2008Take Me to the Sea has its moments, but overall is extremely mediocre compared to its members' past releases.
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gentlemanphilosophyAug 27, 2008
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EricL.Aug 20, 2008