I Love You Jennifer B Jockstrap: Review

Jockstrap

is a British experimental music duo, one half of which is violinist Georgia Ellery who also serves as a member of Black Country, New Road. Jockstrap's EPs at the end of the 2010s turned enough heads for the band to sign with Warp Records and Jennifer B is their debut full length album.

Review by Lav:

When I reviewed Black Country New Road's Ants From Up There earlier this year I tried to both complement the brilliance of the band's most present voice, Isaac Wood, while also complimenting the talent, creativity and willingness to experiment that all the members of the band possessed. I was itching for an opportunity to dive into their details as individual songwriters and performers which is a big part of what made me so excited for this record. What Jockstrap deliver on their debut is a hectic but beautiful and careful series of experimental pop songs that refuse to adhere to that label or any others. 

One of the things I'll say about this album is that it's unsettling in a good way. You never really know what to expect from one of these songs of where it will develop based solely on where it starts. The opener Neon is a great example of that which hard contrasts soft vocals and folky strings with murky synthetic drums and blown out guitars. It's kind of the sound I expected to hear on the record but they take this blueprint and really run with it. 

What's It All About? is at first a more gentle and swaying ballad that shows off a genuinely impressive vocal range  but what's even more impressive is the arrangement of sounds that the pair balance on this track while still maintaining its beauty. Glasgow also pulls this track starting off similar to so many great ambient songs before it. From that point it takes a really impressive tightrope walk getting bigger and bigger while still maintaining that beauty in a way I once again find incredibly impressive. 

Other tracks here take a much more direct route, but with similar results. Debra delivers the highest contrast here with booming drums and synths backing and even completely enveloping the gentler vocals. Closing track 50/50 is genuinely not far from a dance song but they pull it off quite well. The best example of this is Concrete Over Water the record's longest song but one that puts its length to great use. It's easily my favorite song on the record and there are more great pieces of instrumentation than I could list, though I will say the shrill erupting synth lines are a huge highlight. 

In a way that seems almost tongue and cheek the track Greatest Hits is probably what most people will imagine the band sounding like if you read the press on them. It's a bouncy piece of piano pop that absolutely soars with an infectious instrumental and an adorably grand vocal performance. In stark contrast I don't think Lancaster Court is an inherently good song but what keeps me coming back to it is the distant naturey feel it has. It's not naturalistic, that's too scientific. It's naturey. It sounds like Yoko Ono and Spellling trying even harder to make their music sound like it's coming from an enchanted forest. 

In that same vein the weakest parts of the album come when its being what I would call insidiously playful. Jennifer B is a decent song that reaches a point where it fees like it's being quirky just for the sake of it. While I admire the record's willingness to flirt with things like that it just makes this song so off-putting. Angst is rough as well despite starting with quite a sweet string backing. As the lyrics go on and get more angsty I would argue the cracks start to show but the last 30 seconds of sped-up vocals totally slam a sledgehammer into any attempt at serenity. 

Despite some creases that just don't get ironed out in the runtime of the record I think this is a really good start for Jockstrap. Listening to a debut album can sometimes feel more like trying to project a band's future than digesting their present but Jockstrap refuses to let you intellectualize. If you think too much about anything the record will leave you behind as it moves on to some other crazy idea you didn't see coming. It has a pretty strong success rate in those divulsions and as a complete album experience it's one of the most interesting debuts I've heard this year. 7.5/10 

Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:

This cover just is what it is. Nothing crazy or creative. I like the font and the sticker style white around it. There are a variety of ways it could have been elevated but it has a versatility were the light grey background could be changed to legitimately anything else that would have made it better. 3.5/10

For more unpredictable jams check out my review of The Garden's Horseshit On Route 66 here