Perseverance is an absolutely necessity to having any long-term existence in the music industry. Three years after their initial EP release, they’ve experienced the syndrome of “major label contracts gone bad” and lost distribution deals. I’m thanking our lucky stars that the members of the JSound have stuck it out, bringing us a thundering ocean of indie rock bliss on Kill Them With Kindness, now on Better Looking Records. The soaring, enveloping vocals from Blair Shehan, formally the lead guy with Knapsack, heads up this pack, taking a less aggressive approach than with his past band’s persona, but with more intensity then their initial EP.
Kill Them With Kindness starts off on an accelerated, positive note with “Hope For Us”; hints of robotic keyboards tinted with a piano wash sets the ground for the bass heavy and layered guitars of “Anxious Arms”. Guitarist Pedro Benito (Sunday’s Best) goes from punchy punk riffs to rockin’ guitar lead harmony on “The Gift Horse”, while “Does That Make Sense” explodes in a classic indie rock fashion ala Crumb or the Connells.
Blair gets a bit introspective on “For Once In Your Life”, asking some soul searching questions that could be applied to so many individual frames of mind and consciousness, “It feels so good to feel/there’s nothing here that’s real…for once in your life/Are you part of this machine?/Are you living in this dream?/Are you where I’m at?…Is your new God in front of you?/Are you dead or reborn?/Did you find something deeper, something profound?”
Between the jangle bass of John McGinnis (Neither Trumpets Nor Drums), the flexing propulsion drumming from Adam Wade’s (Jawbox, Shudder to Think), and all the other profound elements of The Jealous Sound, it’s no wonder that Tim O’Heir (Sebadoh, Morphine, Superdrag, All-American Rejects) teamed with the guys to produce this release.
Good things come to those who wait…patience is a virtue, and all the other sayings in the book come to one conclusion – through all the pain and frustration, The Jealous Sound now have it down. Kill Them With Kindness, gleaming with a blinding symphony of exquisite textures and adrenaline mood swings, made the wait worthwhile.
