Happy New Year, Antwan

Jaguar Love “Bats Over The Pacific Ocean” – From the sound of it, Jaguar Love seems to be the Make -Up to the Blood Brothers’ Nation of Ulysses. Johnny Whitney’s distinct voice remains at the core of both bands, but in the context of Jaguar Love’s less aggro, more groovy (though no less urgent) music, he’s free to stretch himself beyond the confines of perpetual hysteria. Since Whitney’s voice is such a bold, overpowering thing, it’s not immediately apparent that “Bats Over The Pacific Ocean” is actually a duet, but his performance is shadowed by another, far more tame vocal take that grounds the recording, and serves to remind the audience what the song might be like with a far less compelling frontman. I mean, seriously, if you made a remix of this song that eliminated every trace of Whitney’s voice, you’d have something like an above-average Wolf Parade tune; i.e. relatively competent 00s indie without any sort of spark or charisma. In a period overrun with indie rock singers with samey, dull voices, Whitney’s flamboyant screams and willingness to commit to every cryptic line and melodic turn of his songs as if it were a matter of life and death sets him and his band apart from the wretched timidity of his peers. (Click here for the Jaguar Love page at Matador.)