Jazz June - Better Off Without Air

Jazz June
Better Off Without Air
Initial Records
Grade: A-

After releasing one of the best albums of a few years ago with The Medicine, the Jazz June have come back with an odd collection of dissonant and melodious twists and turns. This is the Jazz June's fifth release on Initial, a label notorious for introducing the world to some of the best bands on the planet only to lose them to other labels or to the band breaking up. As such, the Jazz June is a novelty in a world where brevity reigns. Better Off Without Air shrugs off the apparent random jangly indie-pop of past albums and replaces with more experimentation in rhythms and song structures. This is seen on purely instrumental tracks "Hate/Bass" (containing a very cool riff a la Milemarker), "Shots Fired" and "Benny Clarks Can." While the Jazz June should be commended for their efforts, such experimentation seems to misplace their place in nature. On past albums the Jazz June were able to take a bunch of cacophonous pieces and weave a common thread throughout; always bringing the songs back to a common foundation. To some extent the tremendous and distinct songs still exist on Better Off Without Air. "Drugs and Models," "The Uptown Explosion" and "These Pills Won't Calm Your Nerves" encompass the diamonds in the ruff and really bring forth the musical intuition of the Jazz June.