Monday, July 9, 2012

CD REVIEW: Jody Seabody and the Whirls “Summer Us”

Jody Seabody and the WhirlsSummer Us
                Since I like to think of shoegaze bands as being bands that I could see as having contributed songs to the soundtrack of “The Breakfast Club”, then I definitely think that on the same note the music of Jody Seabody and the Whirls could be found somewhere between the soundtracks of “That Thing You Do!” and “That ‘70’s Show”.   (In that frame of mind, shoegaze could be reflective of “That ‘80’s Show”, but let’s pretend that show never happened, shall we?)
                When you’re a band, one of the most important qualities in making your music is to make something that seems familiar and enjoyable, yet stands out enough so that you don’t simply get written off as sounding like an already existing band (And I, admittedly, do write off too many bands myself for simply sounding like Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, etc.)    Listening to “Summer Us”, the biggest influence I can hear on the sound is actually a movie-made band called The Oneders, from “That Thing You Do!”.    That is also to say that this music could fall anywhere into the category of Buddy Holly, Little Richard and names along those lines.   (However to strictly reserve it to that particular time period of music itself would be a crime)
                On the fourth track, as we dive deeper in and have settled on the Oneders notion, we open with this sort of driving bass line that reminds me of Nirvana, “Bleach” era.   This song, “Lone Tree-Bled Out”, reminds me of grunge in that way, but yet, I also seem to recall Nirvana covering “Heartbreaker” more than once, which sends me back in time even further on my reference point again.
                All too fittingly, “Punch” then becomes an instrumental rock out with your cock out that is definitely something that would make Led Zeppelin proud to hear in tribute.    Granted, Buddy Holly would probably not have made that type of six and a half minute jam in the 1960’s, but we seem to be moving into the 1970’s now, just further putting Jody Seabody and the Whirls all over the map of musical history.
                As the album comes to a close, songs such as “Composition One” and “Doll” get into some pretty decent screaming and all around scratchy vocals, very much unlike any of the prior songs, and this almost makes me want to compare them to a band that has been floating in the back of my mind since listening to them now, Superdrag.    However, it needs to be noted that Superdrag (Who made an awesome entire album called “Regretfully Yours”) seem to be known as a one hit wonder (Haha, the Oneders come back full circle) for the song “Sucked Out”, which has a very trademark scream in it that does not sound anything like the screaming done by Jody Seabody and the Whirls.  
                I really don’t think there is anyone out there who wouldn’t like this music.   If you’re into strictly hardcore/death metal/rape your grandma type of music, then you probably won’t like this.   But if you like music that rocks, no matter the level of melody or screaming, then this will be a perfect fit for you.    And that’s exactly why this is so great:  Something so familiar, it’s comforting, yet so indefinable so it becomes enjoyable.

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