Review of Jack - The
Jazz Age
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(This may not be actual album art)
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You've probably thought by now that there wasn't much mileage left in the English strain of grandiose orchestral rock, but Jack mixes rock-n-roll and string-drenched ballads in an effortless fashion. In 1996, Jack released their first album Pioneer Soundtracks. It sounded rickety, like something put together in a rush. The Jazz Age, on the other hand, is a much sounder structure altogether - handsome, elegant, grand, and breathtaking in the perfect symmetries of its detail and design.
At a time when too much of what we have to listen to is the oral equivalent of a garden shed, The Jazz Age is a palatial vision in a landscape of eye-sores, disfiguration, and left-overs. The album with "3 o' clock in the Morning," a kind of Bowie-esque glam rock stomp that is both beautiful and unapologetically pessimistic. There is also a welcome sense of humor on tracks like "Pablo" and "Saturday's Plan." Other tracks, such as the sublime "Lolita Elle" (a lost love remembered with a clarity that guarantees maximum heart break), literally take your breath away. But it's the track "Nico's Children" that best captures and categorizes this powerful record for its sweeping improvisations and masterful blend of overwrought strings and sorrowful, folky harmonies.
For all of its musical accomplishments, the true star here is Jack's lead singer Anthony Reynolds. His lyrics and passionate delivery perfectly capture this band on the brink of international stardom.
Released Date: 1998
Rough Trade Records
United Kingdom
Tracks:
3 o' clock in the Morning
Pablo
My World Versus Your World
Saturday's Plan
Nico's Children
Lolita Elle
Cinematic
Steamin'
Love and Death in the Afternoon
Half Cut, Wholly Yours
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