Search - Jaguar Love :: Take Me to the Sea

Amazing album - worthy of multiple listens (with headphones!

Eric S. | Brooklyn, NY | 09/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With "Take Me to the Sea" Jaguar Love reinvent indie-pop/punk. Don't believe me? Listen to the album. Repeatedly; it grows and expands on each listen. And with headphones; this is an album with surprising sonic depth.



What is the sound? It's jagged and propulsive and it rocks, but it's also melodic and it's warm and it's catchy (not immediately, but again, after a few listens). It rejects the 'indie-disco-rock' trend that so many bands have gravitated towards -- think The Killers, Interpol, and sometimes The Arcade Fire -- for a unique approach that incorporates elements of bands such as The Mars Volta or The Blood Brothers (of course), Animal Collective (on "Bats Over the Pacific Ocean"), cabaret showtunes ("Georgia"), and even Elliott Smith (an admitted influence on "Bonetrees and a Broken Heart").



For every angular guitar line there is a fuzzy keyboard melody or a soaring vocal line. The vocals are difficult to love at first, even for a fan of Johnny Whitney, but after a few listens they begin to make perfect sense. This is an album to get lost in; let it take you wherever it wants to.



The mix is very odd -- at first, I thought the production was the weakest part of the album. But it grew on me. I could see the more up-tempo songs being 'heavier' live, but at what cost? Melody comes first on "Take Me to the Sea." It is truly the absolute newest breed of indie-rock.



Buy it. Don't download it."