Music For Robots

September 12, 2005 | Posted by Blair at 8:30 AM

Get Your Shorts On

If naming your band after one of the most hated excercise-groups of the 1980s (the most hated group being speed-walkers) isn't an ambitious and bold move, I don't know what is. Hmm...

The Joggers are a four-piece (Ben Whitesides on lead vocals and guitar, Jake Morris on drums and vocals, Darrell Bourque on bass and vocals, and Daniel Wilson on vocals) originally from Portland, Oregon. The band's previous album, Solid Guild (2003 StarTime International) was very successful, received much praise from the press, and lead to the band touring with the Hot Hot Heat, Weird War, Ted Leo, and label mates the French Kicks. It apparently also lead to the lead singer having a vocal breakdown and forcing the band to take a some time off.

However their time off lead to their new album, With a Cape and a Cane, which is all noisy guitars, driving beats, and superb harmonized vocals (I love it when the whole band sings) - there's also some weird proggy flourishes like flutes and other horns, but it works. The reason for this is because the rest of the instrumentation, song structures, and chord progressions are all classic indie rock, so much like the best albums of the mid-90s by Pavement, Built To Spill and Modest Mouse, it is a real pleasure to listen to. Their sound is a bit cleaned up from their early work, but they still have a rawness and sloppy-yet-smooth feel to them.

In fact, I think I hear a bit of MFR alumni the Subjects in there... maybe I can get the two bands to play a show together...

Anyway, the Joggers' new album is coming out on September 27th, and is again being released by Brooklyn-based StarTime. This is a good thing, because the label has been known to release some really good stuff, but it seems like it has been a little while since they've been really active. StarTime also has a couple of other great bands' CDs on deck, including Dios (Malos) and Tom Vek, both of whom you've heard here.

You can pre-order the CD direct from the band, here - do it, for it is good! You can also hear more songs of their's and get more infomation on them on their myspace page.

****************************BONUS****************************
Also, check this out: STARTIME INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE!

Thursday September 15th 2005 at Scenic, 25 Avenue B (between 2nd and 3rd)

7pm Silent League (StarTime's friends)
8pm Foreign Born
9pm The Natural History
10pm The Jogger
11pm dios (malos)
12pm Tom Vek

Then immediately after... STARTIME INTERNATIONAL AFTERPARTY AND BLOWOUT WITH INSOUND.COM!
Thursday September 15th 2005 at Scenic, 12am-4am Free (with RSVP)

Free PBR from 1am-2am
1:45am The Constantines
2:45am The Paradise Boys
w/DJs Jefrodisiac, JDH, Eucho, and many more!

Zing!

Comments

If you like the Jogger's new stuff as much as I do, you might be interested in this other Portland band, At Dusk. Here they are caught wild and unrehersed, working out the grooves for their upcoming album:

Greg's Apple (demo)

Posted by: Chris at September 13, 2005 4:46 AM