JAWS – “Simplicity”
Album Reviews | Nov 3rd, 2016
Record Label: Self-released
Genre: Shoegaze/Rock
Band Link: www.jawsjawsjaws.co.uk
Buy on Amazon.com
JAWS is a shoegazing alternative rock band from Birmingham, England and Simplicity is their follow-up to their excellent debut album, Be Slowly. I’ve been waiting for this follow-up for awhile now since I liked their debut album so much. Believe it or not, Simplicity is even better!
I’m not sure if the band considers themselves shoegaze but they have some of those qualities. Reverbed vocals and noisy guitars in some songs. Others songs have a dreamy alternative rock/pop sound as well. Whenever I hear their guitars, it reminds of The Cure. Whatever the genre, you can obviously hear a lot of progression in their sound and how much they have matured in just a few years. As much as I loved their first album, you can tell the band was just figuring things out and getting started. That’s no longer the case anymore. They figured it out and Simplicity is outstanding!
“Just A Boy” starts off the album to a nice start. A good transition from their debut album to this. The guitars has that Cure sound again and I’m not complaining. “What We Haven’t Got Yet” is an up-tempo track, louder and catchier. That chorus will be implanted in your brain for hours. “Whoah Oh ooooh Whoah oh oh….” The next track “Right In Front Of Me” is another stellar song and one of the best songs they have written to date. The music video has a timelapse of driving in it and that’s what I immediately thought of when I heard it. The bass is very prominent and frontman Connor’s echoey, dream-like vocals shine on this song too.
Another track Connor shines on is for “17.” A more subdued track in the beginning. The lyrics are particularly strong and meaningful. This track also experiments with computerized beats and then it turns into an awesome dream pop song halfway through. “Work It Out” is a dream pop song and quite catchy. It doesn’t sound like anything the band has done before. Definitely a highlight for me, besides “What We Haven’t Got Yet” and “Right In Front Of Me.” Not sure which style I prefer, the shoegazing rock songs or the dream-like pop songs. I guess I can say I love both.
JAWS is still relevantly young, which is impressive to say the least, that they have released two excellent albums so far. I’m looking forward to hearing many more albums from JAWS. The mixture of their shoegaze rock sound and the dream pop is amazing together. More of that please!
Bottom Line: Better than their first album and their first album was pretty damn good!
Notable Tracks: Just A Boy, What We Haven’t Got Yet, Right In Front Of Me, 17, Work It Out
Overall Rating:
