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
Showing posts with label Jets to Brazil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jets to Brazil. Show all posts
7.3.08
Jets to Brazil
live @ Black Cat 9.2.2000
By the time Jets to Brazil took the stage at the Black Cat Saturday night, the club’s milieu had become decidedly moist: a sell-out crowd and the humid night air were giving the air-conditioning system all it could handle. It was fitting, though, since the Jets best music carries a certain emotional desperation that seems to sound better when the audience is sweating along with the band.
Jets’ pilot Blake Schwarzenbach, (formerly of punk-pop champions Jawbreaker) led the New York City quartet into the second show of its current US tour with “You’re Having the Time of My Life”, typical of the earnest, keening tunes on the band’s new album, “Four Cornered Night”. That record has only been in stores for a week, and many in attendance seemed more familiar with selections like “Sea Anemone” and “Sweet Avenue” from Jets first CD, “Orange Rhyming Dictionary”. Still, it was the newer material that sounded the most assured. With bassist Jeremy Chatelain anchoring while the guitars of Schwarzenbach and Bryan Maryansky surged emphatically, “Little Light”, “One Summer Last Fall” (which featured Schwarzenbach on keyboards) and “Your X-Rays” scored direct hits as the kind of literate guitar music that makes the Jets soar.
The group proved that a live setting is their ideal environment, making lines like “Do the stars conspire to pin us down/like butterflies”, from the song “Orange Rhyming Dictionary”, which seem awkward on record, ring assuredly in performance. Indeed, Jets to Brazil remained right on course through an encore of “All Things Good and Nice”, delivering an hour-long set impressively free of turbulence.
Washington Post, September 2000
By the time Jets to Brazil took the stage at the Black Cat Saturday night, the club’s milieu had become decidedly moist: a sell-out crowd and the humid night air were giving the air-conditioning system all it could handle. It was fitting, though, since the Jets best music carries a certain emotional desperation that seems to sound better when the audience is sweating along with the band.
Jets’ pilot Blake Schwarzenbach, (formerly of punk-pop champions Jawbreaker) led the New York City quartet into the second show of its current US tour with “You’re Having the Time of My Life”, typical of the earnest, keening tunes on the band’s new album, “Four Cornered Night”. That record has only been in stores for a week, and many in attendance seemed more familiar with selections like “Sea Anemone” and “Sweet Avenue” from Jets first CD, “Orange Rhyming Dictionary”. Still, it was the newer material that sounded the most assured. With bassist Jeremy Chatelain anchoring while the guitars of Schwarzenbach and Bryan Maryansky surged emphatically, “Little Light”, “One Summer Last Fall” (which featured Schwarzenbach on keyboards) and “Your X-Rays” scored direct hits as the kind of literate guitar music that makes the Jets soar.
The group proved that a live setting is their ideal environment, making lines like “Do the stars conspire to pin us down/like butterflies”, from the song “Orange Rhyming Dictionary”, which seem awkward on record, ring assuredly in performance. Indeed, Jets to Brazil remained right on course through an encore of “All Things Good and Nice”, delivering an hour-long set impressively free of turbulence.
Washington Post, September 2000
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