Released By : Dew Records
Genre : Indie Rock
Links : http://www.jebediah.net/
Tracklist:
01. Lost My Nerve
02. Oxygen
03. She’s Like a Comet
04. To Your Door
05. Control
06. Under Your Bed
07. Battlesong
08. Freakin’ Out
09. The Lash
10. High (Horse)
11. Are We Ok?
Sometimes just the mere fact that a certain band is releasing a new album is an interesting proposition, but for me personally when it’s an Aussie band from years back it certainly gets my attention. JEBEDIAH were one of the darlings of the indie rock movement down under in the mid to late nineties. While the rest of the world was listening to bands like FOO FIGHTERS, SONIC YOUTH, THE DANDY WARHOLS, WILCO, THIRD EYE BLIND and SMASHING PUMPKINS, our hometown heroes of the era were groups like SPIDERBAIT, FRENZAL RHOMB, ESKIMO JOE, MAGIC DIRT, CUSTARD, YOU AM I, GRINDSPOON and of course these fellas JEBEDIAH.
The fact is that once the down-under indie rock phase started dying off, most if not all of the bands that were part of it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Sure a few of them have attempted comeback tours and albums but for the most part they simply don’t work as all of the people that listened to this sort of stuff back then have pretty much moved on. The only band to really launch a successful return up until now has been ESKIMO JOE, and the way they did it was very smart as they kept the indie edge that they were known for but also combined it with a very radio friendly modern rock sound and this gave them two very successful latter day albums. It would seem that the guys from JEBEDIAH have taken this into account and have launched a comeback album of their own that takes their signature style and infuses it with modern pop rock sensibilities to varying degrees of success.
The launch single SHE’S LIKE A COMET is a ready-made radio hit that it making waves in the Australian charts and certainly has a pop sheen that helps it shine through. For me personally this is the best song the band has released in their entire career and a very worthy hit. The biggest thing I noticed here was the new vocal approach from front-man Kevin Mitchell, who to me used to have a very annoying vocal accent. To see what I mean check out one of the band’s earlier this titled LEAVING HOME in which Mitchell sounded like he was singing LEEEVING HAAAWWM with a peg stuck on his nose, sure it worked at the time but it never did much for me. This time around though Mitchell gives us a straight pop rock voice that is surprisingly very good and I don’t know why he hid it away for so long. Fans of the old sound needn’t panic too much though as there is still a fari representation of that style here in tracks like CONTROL, UNDER YOUR BED and FREAKIN’ OUT. But it’s the more experimental and mature tunes like the aptly titled BATTLESONG, the spaced-out styling of OXYGEN, and the BEATLES influenced pop-rock of TO YOUR DOOR that are of most interest here and show a band that is willing to grow and try new things while never forgetting where they came from.
I know a couple of JEBEDIAH’S early albums are heralded as classics of the Aussie indie rock scene, but for me the awkwardly titled KOSCIUSZKO is the bands best album yet and would be very surprised if it doesn’t take off in a massive way.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 8/10
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