Album Review: Jail- There’s No Sky (Oh My My)
Written by willshoob on Wednesday, 22 of April , 2009 at 8:28 pm
Jail are an absolutely fantastic band, coming out of Milwaukee. I’d describe them as pop punk, but not the shitty radio kind. The kind of pop punk they play is the kind that will get stuck in your head, but your not ashamed to be singing it aloud, because it’s wonderfully creative and arranged to perfection. But as soon as you think this is a pop album, you get something like “Stuffed” which features electronic drums and a pedal steel, that you generally find on country albums.
Here’s a little bit about the band, straight from their mouths:
We’re from Milwaukee, always have been. Jail’s been around 7 years, mostly slacking time while making good music poorly. Now we have an album out we love, we recorded and produced ourselves in a basement and an attic, mastered and helped mix by Justin Perkins. Now we’re not slacking and touring when we can, sending out as many copies of the album to spread the word because we’re hoping it’s about that time… We’re good friends with Thomas Function, Wheels on Fire, the Strange Boys, and think all these bands are headed in the right direction. Our influences are the Flying Burrito Brothers, Elo, Harry Nilsson, girl groups, among many others. We all like vinyl, vintage instruments, and strong coffee.
The album starts off with the “There’s No Sky (Oh My My)”, and it’s one of my favorites. I really love this album, but to avoid ranting, all just talk about some of my very favorites. The album starts off with tom drums that were borrowed from “Wipeout”, and a lot of noise. All the noise is placed perfectly, complimenting each other as opposed to clashing with each other. The chorus comes at a perfect time, and it reminds me just a little bit of Why’s? chorus on “Fatalist Palmistry.” Just a little bit though.
Another excellent track (once again, they all are) is “We’ve Won.” The song starts off with various chime and bell sounds, before a howling breeze introduces the actual song. The song is absolutely fantastic, reminding me somewhat of a cleaner version of a Harlem or Black Lips song. The vocals really stand out on this track, showing a nice range, and just sounding lovely. This is probably my favorite track on the album, it’s really catchy.
Another one of my favorites is “Out Of Your Boots” which does a nice job of using an acoustic guitar sort of as the rhythm section, while an electric guitar is complimenting the vocals. The song really kicks in when the back up vocals kick in, and there seems to be a bit of a string section. After that wonderful chorus, a quiet hi-hat adds some really nice subtlety, working with a little bit of percussion (mostly shaker) to finish off the two minute song.
If you didn’t realize from the review, I’m in love with this band. One of my favorites for the early part of 2009, it’s way too early to speak, but this one might make my final list… At least it would so far this year. Anyways check out the boys on Myspace, and download a couple of tracks below. Buy the album! It’s fantastic!
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Comment by Jon
Made Thursday, 15 of April , 2010 at 8:01 am
I realize this post is almost a year old, but I wanted to thank you for the review anyway, just introduced to Jail and really digging them, thanks again!
