Not too long back, you may remember that I wrote a piece on an American artist going by the name GAYWIRE and, essentially the focal point was people’s rights and acceptance within the LGBT+ community…now, while today’s post isn’t directly linked to that in any way, sadly I still have to bring up the topic of discrimination…the lovely people over at Rage PR forwarded me an EP by a band called JACK THE ENVIOUS recently and upon looking them up on social media, doing some research as I always do, the band stated that they’d moved to London at the beginning of the year, but it didn’t state where they originated. Merely out of curiosity I asked Rage and sadly the response I got was so incredibly disheartening. The band were formed in Israel, and while it isn’t a secret per se, they don’t talk about it out of concern it will draw prejudice or create problems given today’s political climate etc…quite frankly, that’s appalling. I’d like to start off by simply saying I don’t care where you come from, I don’t care what nationality you are, I don’t care what religion you categorise yourself as part of and I definitely don’t care if you put pineapple on pizza…all I care about is your band’s music…and to those of you reading this, I suggest you prioritise the same. Now that that’s out of the way, we need to talk about their new EP! Entitled “In Your Own Way” and released last month, the band (consisting of vocalist Nir Perlman, guitarist Guy Avnon, bassist Guy Checkarov and drummer James MacPherson) combine melodic pop-sensibilities with post-hardcore attitude, resulting in some solid yet tuneful rock…let’s check it out…
After a brief intro consisting of subtle electronica and almost drum & bass inspired percussion, we’re enveloped in a strong dose of impassioned, anthemic alt. rock via opener "Shut Me Off"…Nir’s vocals are for the most part smooth and clean but he’s capable of releasing the aggression when required, though his vocal tone generally is predominantly higher in pitch and in ways it’s the sort of style that will easily appeal to fans of say, SLEEPING WITH SIRENS and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE for example…it’s a positive start. Elsewhere further highlights include “Mrs Grim”, with its up-tempo flurry of punk-inspired energetic pop rock…wonderfully blending catchy hooks with a more intense guitar driven core sound it’s a perfect balance between happy and heavy (for its genre) in all the right places and ends all too soon, it’s one of those tracks you can happily put on repeat, so well done to the lads here, while “Never Look Down”, despite being no less catchy is far softer, the guitar tone is a touch moody, accompanying a more emotional track and it all combines very well, it’s a very enjoyable listen.
While the official EP is completed by tracks “Begging For More” and “Guilty”, which are generally fine in terms of content, there’s nothing generally wrong with them, each carrying distinct qualities including soaring vocals, bass driven hard rock, they even include some notable double kick drum…the tracks overall don’t manage to deliver the same level of enjoyment as the aforementioned…however…if you are to listen to the version with bonus content, you’ll be met with two incredibly interesting covers…and if I may say so myself, two incredibly brave covers while you’re at it…to be perfectly honest, their cover of “Wonderwall” by OASIS isn’t going to please everyone. It’s a modern classic and for all intents and purposes it’s one of the most revered songs of all time, it’s just on another level, so anyone choosing to cover it is going to face scrutiny, and while many will argue that a harder rock driven sound will take away from the song, it’s been done fairly well and they deserve at least a little credit…BUT…and oh there is a big but…we’re talking a SIR MIX-A-LOT level of big but and I cannot lie when I say that, they have absolutely butchered “Feel Good Inc.” by GORILLAZ…good god it’s bad, even Harambe will be turning in his grave at this one. The guitar just sounds so off, it’s really a track that was never intended for aggressive rock and here they’ve more than proven it. Feel Good Inc.? No Feel bad Jack! You really should! Other than that, it really is an enjoyable EP and solidifies the four-piece as ones to watch heading into next year. [7]
After a brief intro consisting of subtle electronica and almost drum & bass inspired percussion, we’re enveloped in a strong dose of impassioned, anthemic alt. rock via opener "Shut Me Off"…Nir’s vocals are for the most part smooth and clean but he’s capable of releasing the aggression when required, though his vocal tone generally is predominantly higher in pitch and in ways it’s the sort of style that will easily appeal to fans of say, SLEEPING WITH SIRENS and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE for example…it’s a positive start. Elsewhere further highlights include “Mrs Grim”, with its up-tempo flurry of punk-inspired energetic pop rock…wonderfully blending catchy hooks with a more intense guitar driven core sound it’s a perfect balance between happy and heavy (for its genre) in all the right places and ends all too soon, it’s one of those tracks you can happily put on repeat, so well done to the lads here, while “Never Look Down”, despite being no less catchy is far softer, the guitar tone is a touch moody, accompanying a more emotional track and it all combines very well, it’s a very enjoyable listen.
While the official EP is completed by tracks “Begging For More” and “Guilty”, which are generally fine in terms of content, there’s nothing generally wrong with them, each carrying distinct qualities including soaring vocals, bass driven hard rock, they even include some notable double kick drum…the tracks overall don’t manage to deliver the same level of enjoyment as the aforementioned…however…if you are to listen to the version with bonus content, you’ll be met with two incredibly interesting covers…and if I may say so myself, two incredibly brave covers while you’re at it…to be perfectly honest, their cover of “Wonderwall” by OASIS isn’t going to please everyone. It’s a modern classic and for all intents and purposes it’s one of the most revered songs of all time, it’s just on another level, so anyone choosing to cover it is going to face scrutiny, and while many will argue that a harder rock driven sound will take away from the song, it’s been done fairly well and they deserve at least a little credit…BUT…and oh there is a big but…we’re talking a SIR MIX-A-LOT level of big but and I cannot lie when I say that, they have absolutely butchered “Feel Good Inc.” by GORILLAZ…good god it’s bad, even Harambe will be turning in his grave at this one. The guitar just sounds so off, it’s really a track that was never intended for aggressive rock and here they’ve more than proven it. Feel Good Inc.? No Feel bad Jack! You really should! Other than that, it really is an enjoyable EP and solidifies the four-piece as ones to watch heading into next year. [7]
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