Album Type: EP
Date Released:
30/4/2014
Label: Silver Maple
Kill Records
‘The
Firetower EP’ DD/Vinyl track listing:
1). Brother
Eye (02:25)
2). With Wings
(02:59)
3). The
Missaukee Strut (03:12)
4). What I
Done (02:44)
5). The Grand River Float (02:24)
6). La Ventura
7). Gonna
Wreck My Life (03:00)
Bio:
The
Jackpine Snag started in Sept 2010. Joe Hart contacted Nick Merz and Todd
Karinen about jamming some newer stuff he had worked out, and it
immediately took off. within a few weeks of rocking in Joe's basement, they had
5 or 6 songs. now, they needed a name. after talking to his dad, who used to be
a forest ranger, Joe really like the story about how jackpines can grow into
one another and then die, leaving a nasty looking growth of wood, or a snag. so
the name came from there. The Jackpine Snag played the first show in Feb of
2011. they played shows throughout the rest of the year, until Nick decided he
was going to move to boise Idaho at the end of the year. after Nick left, Joe
and Todd recruited Greg Lamb to fill the bass slot. after acclimating himself
to the music, the band continued with their lucky streak of playing on great
bills, which still is going today. in Feb of 2013, they released a 7" ep
called The Omega Stump
The
Band:
Joe Hart | Guitar,Vocals
Greg Lamb | Bass
Todd Karinen |
Drums
Review:
You
know how some bands never sound as good live as they do on the album? As if
they just couldn't reproduce the same intensity? The Jackpine Snag, from Lansing Michigan
The
band refers to their sound as "Heavy Blues Grunge Doom Rock Stuff",
mostly in jest, and although all of those would apply, they don’t fit squarely
into any of those. The guitar tones are dirty, low and fuzzy, and even
desperate and maddening at times on songs such as ‘La Ventura’, which is also
the longest on the album, clocking in at just over four minutes. Short, punchy
and to the point is what you'll get.
Right
from the first track, ‘Brother Eye’ you get the pounding rhythm with that dirty,
nasty gritty guitar sound, coupled with Joe Hart's at times soulful and
sometime howling vocals. But...what I like most about the Jackpine Snag is
their sense of timing. Pauses and rests and changes all seem flawless, and they
use plenty of them. If this kind of music kept the same progression and only
used three chords, it would be punk. These songs don't do that. A perfect
example is track three ‘The Missaukee Strut’. The rests and changes keep
everything interesting, and once again the vocals go from a whisper to a
howling scream, never making you comfortable, keeping you on edge.
For
my money, the song ‘The Grand River Float’ really sums up The Jackpine Snag and
the album. It highlights all instruments, quick, to the point, and both
soulful, nasty and desperate. I like to say to anyone who makes the mistake of
listening to me long enough to let me wax philosophical, that good music, no
matter what style, should make you feel something, anger, happiness, angst,
whatever. Something, ya dig? ‘The Firetower’
makes me feel a little angry, a little sad, especially if you listen to the
lyrics. Also, it makes me feel really good, because as intense as these songs
are, they are beautifully written. I'm not just saying that to write fluff or
out of kindness. I have never, nor will I ever do that.
I
fucking mean it.
There
is a sweet melancholy wrapped around a crashing intensity and fuzz guitar that
kinda makes you want to throw some "metal horns" and start stomping
around. I don't know about you, but that pretty much does it for me. When any
band can do that to me, they win. I'm
sold. Incidentally, for the record, I
have *NEVER* been fairly blazed, and played *ANY* of the JPS's records at 33
speed, just to watch the walls bleed, and demons flap around the room. Nope.
Never happened, and I will continue to deny it.
Words by: Mike Borsum
You
can pick up a copy here
For
more information:
