Jiggley Jones releases
LP
Although his name might
give you the idea that he is a flimsy character, don’t let Jiggley Jones’
handle mislead you. JJ is in fact a rock solid singer/songwriter, and his new
record Not Your Typical Day Out is likely the preeminent
anti-typical folk album of the latter 2010s. After 11 years of cautious
creative development, Jones unleashes all he’s got on Day Out, and
it really is quite the ten song collection to behold. If you’re looking for
your standard pop/rock record, this is definitely not what you’re looking for.
Opening with a quaint
set of strings and softly interwoven lyrics, “Danger Island,” the first song on
the record, invites us inside the isolated solitude of the band. Smokey
basslines cut through the verses alongside their electric and acoustic guitar
brethren. There’s a remarkable flow here, as the next song “Wide Awake” seems
to start out of nowhere, with a skipping beat and swirling harmonies that have
us surrounded before we know it. Jones serenades us with his aching desires,
insisting that the object of his affection doesn’t just make him weak at the
knees, she’s downright intoxicating to everyone she meets. “Now my senses are
wild and free,” he proclaims, as his love has brought him out of the darkness
and into the light. The playful “Vibrant” follows with a melancholic sway
before breaking out into a celebratory anthem that captures the beautiful
innocence of youth as seen through the eyes of a parent. Anyone who has
experienced the gifts that children have to share with the world will find
themselves overwhelmed by the magical mood Jones creates in the track. There’s
a carefree vibe that joins us throughout the whole of Not Your Typical
Day Out, not unlike Tom Petty, but there’s much more restraint and optimism
in Jones’ lyrical structures that makes the songs sound less like rock music
and more like contemporary folk. The compressed vocals on “Gray” relates a
multitude of pain in its cold disconnection, while the countrified “Restless”
gazes out over the emptiness with a confidence that is as cathartic as it is
bittersweet. The latter song could be the biggest gem on Day Out,
mostly because of its perfectly timed placement at track nine on this record,
acting as a sort of refreshment after the contemplation of the previous songs.
From beginning to end, Jiggley Jones gives us a consistently enjoyable LP that
touches on as many themes that an independent pop record can.
Not Your Typical Day Out is unsurprisingly generating a lot of attention on music
streaming websites and Americana radio, and having already conquered his cult
following’s hearts, Jiggley Jones seems absolutely poised to break into the
mainstream with this new record. Willfully different than anything else you’ve
heard in this decade, it’s easy to see why Jones won the coveted 2013 International
Music and Entertainment Awards’ “Songwriter of the Year” prize, and that a
couple of Grammys could easily be in his near future. For more information
on Not Your Typical Day Out, give it a stream on Spotify or
download it now on iTunes & Napster.
Rory Richardson
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