A Beautiful Mess...

So I got this Joggers CD a while ago.  Don't know them, never bothered listening, didn't really give it a second thought.  Then I saw the new three-headed Stereogum collective mention it yesterday, so I threw it on my computer and give it a shot. 

Holy shit.

At just a first listen, it may be the freshest and most exciting album I've heard in a very very long time.  I absolutely love it.  Don't even know how to describe what I'm hearing.  It sounds so sloppy and hastily thrown together, but every song comes together perfectly.  It's got a Libertines type attitude.  A less cheeky Art Brut?  I dunno.  Something like that.

I'm gonna go ahead and say it.  And I know that I haven't been with it long or anything...but this is one of the best albums I've heard this year.  I think one of the major appeals is that's it's SO close to the worst music I've ever heard, but every time it teeters on the edge, some wicked hook pulls it back.  It's perpetually dangerous like that. And it works for me, tho I can totally see people hating it.

They're in town for CMJ, playing with Tom Vek at Scenic on the 15th.  It may be tough to get down there by 10:00 to see them after Arcade Fire, but I'm gonna try my best.

I'm having a hard time picking one song off this to post, so I'll go with the album's opening track.  Jim Stereogum put up a song yesterday too. Listen and love.

The Joggers - Ziggurat Traffic

Comments

[nora]

i can't believe you said wicked hook. hehe.

but i will try to listen to this again. because the only thing i agreed with after one listen is "so close to the worst music i've ever heard." maybe it's a "grower"

[Glenn]

I've listened a few times and I think it's a pretty good record. The first time I heard an alternating hi hat and snare drum I was *this close* to chucking it out the window, but I'm glad I kept listening. It's not different, just better. And that's enough to get into my rotation.

One surprise last night was the new OK Go album, which I listened to on Rhapsody. Though I didn't care for the first one, the new album really grabbed my attention.