I’ve listened to Jaguar Love’s latest work, “Take Me To The Sea” a couple of times and I’ve been stuck with the same question after each listening, “Why is the lead singer making screeching baby noises?” Seriously, what is the point behind this musical inspiration? There were points in the music that I found myself getting annoyed rather then focusing on listening to what was actually happening. I may not be Hunter S. Thompson, but I am pretty sure that the point of music is not to annoy the audience. Jaguar Love does possess some very interesting qualities and I figure that people would rather have me focus on that since this is a review and not a rant about musical choices.
One of the most shocking sounds that came out of this band was the incredibly concise rhythm section that seemed to control the destiny of the songs. There were songs where the lead vocals took over (The Man with the Plastic Suns) that I was not terribly fond of; then there were songs like Georgia, Bats Over the Pacific, and Highways of Gold that had a great musical feel to them thanks to fantastic rhythm arrangements. There were times when it felt like this was some sort of crazy Frankenstein baby that turned into music. The mash up in styles was bizarre to say the least. Musically there were many highlights, the primary being that they played like hardcore southern rockers. Jaguar Love made me listen to some King’s of Leon and remember how much I enjoy their early stuff. On the other hand there were traces of Coheed and Cambria in the vocals. These two styles seemed to have a difficult time coexisting. My favorite part of the vocals were the sections when there was harmonizing, probably not a good sign.
While Jaguar Love is not a band that I would listen to frequently I truly respect the avenues they traveled down on “Take Me To The Sea.” There were many unexpected twists and turns, and that left me with an actual experience rather then a carbon copy for each song. These guys have creativity on their side, which left me waiting for the next song to begin. This is a band that is waiting for listener’s who are ready to experiment with them; because these guys seem to be having fun with what they are doing. If you decide to check them out, listen a few times all the way through, it’s an interesting ride.
Jaguar Love, one simple request, could you try dropping it an octave?