REVIEW: Jack Drag, Dope Box (A&M)
- Jon Steltenpohl
When Jack Drag's leader, John Dragonetti, comments "we approached every song as its own planet, and we knew there were inherent problems in that," he knows what he's talking about. Dope Box is an album of broken up sounds that shows incredible promise, but is a tough listen if coherency is your goal. Nearly all of the great styles of late 80's and early 90's college rock are represented whether it be the Pixies, the Stone Roses, Weezer, or even some of the U.K.'s shoe gazing bands.
The designated radio single is a track called "Seem So Tired". It's an incredibly danceable pop track. Unquestionably, Jackdrag studied "Fools Gold" intensly in an effort to fill the gap so shamelessly left when the Stone Roses cock teased the world with only one decent album in 7 years before finally breaking up. The lead singer breathlessly croons over a swirling beat driven by a lazy, loopy bass line. God bless Jack Drag for proving that it might be possible for other bands to capture the spirit the Roses so briefly embodied.
The title track, "Dope Box", follows a similar pattern of pop satisfaction and infectious groove, yet other songs are seemingly from a completely different band. The best chance for a single on the album besides "Seem so Tired" is the album opener "Debutante". "Debutante" is kind of like a garbled Weezer clone because it's smart and grungy without losing its pop flavor. Shades of Beck's "Devil's Haircut" are present in "I Feel Really O.K.". Alternately, "Where Are We" could pass for a Smiths song with guitar work right out of the Johnny Marr fakebook. The only clunker on the album is the last track called "Kung Fu Dub". It's a bit too incoherent at first, but shows the promise of the band when it breaks down into a beautiful crooning finale.
Jack Drag are sonically exciting, but they need a little experience on songwriting and album coherency. This is one of the most inspiring debuts I've heard in a long time because the stength and originality of the band is immediately evident. There's a glut of bands hitting the charts now featuring smart ass lyrics played by wholly average bands. Jack Drag steps right up to the plate as a band which plays music much better than their level of songwriting would suggest. Unfortunately, Dope Box is exciting, but a bit unrefined. The album has a lot of merit, but its true strength is the promise of Jack Drag eventually maturing into a classic band.
