Review Summary: Jonquil's sophomore EP carries you to a warm island escape, inviting you to dip in nostalgic waters with electro-indie rock. A bit of math-rock blended with calypso-pop, [i]One Hundred Suns[/i] is a bubbly album to help your transition into higher tempera
Blending math-rock with afro-pop influences, Jonquil's
One Hundred Sons feels more cohesive as the UK-based band's second EP. The album takes you a vacation of escapism; beginning with frenetic energy, but concluding with a mellow mood.
In "Fighting Smiles," Hugo Manuel's (aka Chad Valley) vocals soar to head-voice heights and play nicely in a lower register, mirroring the dance-musicality of the opening track. Doodling-sweep-picking throughout the album, the first few tracks are enjoyable, but don't land independently in your ear.
"Pillow Quest" holds its own featuring a horn section as the backbone. Its mellow downtempo beats (at least in comparison to the opening songs) and progression in its bridge is a welcome respite. The tambourines and harmonies in "Compound" allow you to drift you in the same vein as its predecessor. Dreamy, layered vocals, and repetitive melodies are the forefront of the aforementioned songs.
"I Don't Know I Know" is a standout song, with tighter vocal harmonies and lyrics that perfectly encapsulate the tone for the album.
"I'll curl my lips around this drink and I'll sink away.
Piece our bodies back together tomorrow and soothe away
And to be careless in this decade will make amends
But maybe carelessness from now is best.
And I'll curl my lips around this drink and I'll sink away
I've always thought of you as my influenza or utopia."
As the closing track, "Lions" recalls a Beirut-esque tone with accordion-fueled chanting. It's the end of the journey, you're heading on your way out of the pub, and saying farewell as the sun sets on your adventures. The oom pah pah percussion fading into a single note of the accordion lends to the sense of finality. The self-proclaimed "Paul Simon's take on The Smiths" band has a twinge of Morrissey-influenced vocals at the beginning of "Sunday Night", but doesn't hold a candle to Simon or the Smiths in musicality. The following full-length,
Point of Go (2012) has a higher production quality and shows Jonquil's growth as an artist.
At first spin,
One Hundred Suns could be swept under the generic indie rock rug, but the album has an infectious beat to tap your toes to. It's nothing earth-shattering musically, but it's fun, poppy, and the feel-good nature is perfect for spring.
