Four Cornered Night
(Jade Tree)
It can’t be easy being Blake Schwarzenbach. The head pilot of Jets to Brazil pins his pathos on his heart, fastens his heart to his sleeve and goes out into the modern world, which can be a pretty tough place for a sensitive guy. Lucky for us, Schwarzenbach deals with it by writing songs, and Four-Cornered Night is another compelling chapter in his story.
At this point, Schwarzenbach’s punk and emo-core pedigree (and likewise, those of his bandmates--- guitarist Bryan Maryansky, drummer Chris Daly and bassist Jeremy Chatelain) are barely relevant to the music Jets to Brazil makes. As Schwarzenbach points out in the press release accompanying review copies of the new disc, “I’m returning to the forms I grew up listening to.” Listening to Night, it’s very possible Blake has a few REO Speedwagon and Bruce Springsteen slabs hidden among the Jam and Rites of Spring albums of his formative years. That’s not to imply that this recording is a schlock-fest. It’s more a crisp pop suite stitched together with some maudlin passages, which, on the whole, goes down pretty smooth.
The overtly lachrymose aspects---especially “All Things Good and Nice”, wherein Schwarzenbach sings of his unabashed love for everyone from his Mom and Dad to his guitarist (“he makes my three chords sound like eight”)---don’t drag things to a morose level. In fact, from the Green Day-ish kick of “You’re Having the Time of My Life” to the snazzy hook in “Pale New Dawn” to the careening guitars of “Milk and Apples”, the Jets have fashioned a record that, much like the Promise Ring’s outstanding Very Emergency, is full of smart modern pop music. Music made by boys who aren’t afraid to admit that sometimes this world is a hard place to live and love. And who aren’t afraid to sound like REO Speedwagon if that’s what it takes to get the job done.
Time Out New York, 2000
