Labels: boslevan – parade of spectres
Review by: Alex Hannan
First impressions of the new JACKALS 7″, “Everyday fabric” – happy to see not just lyrics included but also a sheet of texts expanding on and explaining them. The lyrics themselves are mostly short nuggets, verging on DISCHARGE-haiku length, on a broad variety of themes – e.g. corporate pharma’s pursuit of profit over human welfare, the death penalty, sexual violence as part of the fabric of Western culture. Interestingly, in at least two cases the song lyrics alone only give you half the story – references to the Srebrenica massacre that inspired “Iron Age Warfare” and the conspiracy theories behind “Rudderless” only occur in the footnotes. That’s just fine by me – I like bands that give the listener a lot to chew on. Since they’re clearly serious about communicating ideas, in the spirit of dialogue I’ll just point out in connection with the song “Profit” that a syringe can’t be “contaminated with AIDS” – AIDS is a set of symptoms rather than an infectious agent.
On to the music, six tracks of no-frills dark hardcore punk, mostly mid-paced, bracketed with guitar feedback. Twin guitars are used for the most part to beef up the sound rather than to add complexity, and this was effective when I saw them live. Liked the more chaotic guitar interludes in “Under the guise of law” a lot. The songwriting feels organic – allowing the riffs and ideas to dictate the structure rather than following a set recipe. There are some neat guitar riffs, like the start of “Iron Age Warfare” or the end of “Profit”, but also occasions where songs lack a sense of effective pacing, such as in “Rudderless” where an atmospheric buildup feels wasted on a less impressive second half.
When we’re talking about mid-paced hardcore and political lyrics, I really love a well-delivered lyric so that the music can hammer home the point of the song. Chris Colohan is a great example of someone who nails this and knows how to ride a riff for maximum impact. For me, the vocal delivery here is good in terms of throaty / screamy timbre and urgency, but isn’t quite working to full potential. On occasion one of the pair drifts a little ahead of the beat, as on “Profit”, and that song also has a couple of examples of ungainly phrasing. I’m less likely to sing along to lines with off-kilter emphasis (“GREED! A! MAN! made kil-LER!”.) The last two words of the line “The best customers STAY SICK” could have been a great emphasis point but feel a bit tossed away. (I’ll shut up now, since this isn’t X Factor…)
I’d like to catch them live again. There are a lot of good elements here and I have a feeling better things are on the way…