Musically confused? Jimmy’s Chicken Shack’s second release, Bring Your Own Stereo, offers the public a diverse experience, much like their first album did. On this record you’ll find rock music combined with Jimi HaHa’s (lead guitar/vocals) crossbreeding rap/singing style. The last record seemed to be more along the lines of angry grunge rock, but with Bring Your Own Stereo the band taps into their emotional pop side. They call their combination of sounds “hick-hop with a little slop pop.” Call it what you will. I promise you will find a number of genres of music crisscrossing throughout this record.
The first third of Bring Your Own Stereo holds heavily layered pop songs that at times sound like ska mixed in with a touch of swing, then straightened out into pop tunes. “Lazy Boy Dash” is a unique number that baffled me a bit because it’s swing and ska crashed with rock, which makes for an interesting sound altogether. The next track, “Do Right”, continues along the rock/swing/ska route but takes a wrong turn into the neighborhood of pop music. The song’s intro is similar to the Barenaked Ladies’ formula for success, and that is quick opening drumbeats with a pause followed by some clever lyrics. If you listen to “Do Right” followed by a Barenaked Ladies song, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.
However, Jimi’s lyrics are enticing, “Won’t make the bed up straight/ I always stay out late/ I never take you out/ that’s what you’re all about/ I always smell like smoke/ Everything is just a joke.” It’s easy to figure out that Jimi was shit on by his ex-girlfriend, and he’s still dealing with her memory. Throughout the record it seems that all of the references and emotions come from his break-up. “String of Pearls” seems to tap into that emotional discontent. Here is an example of the band’s weird diversity, connecting a swing guitar hook with reggae rock and roll.
The next chunk of the record is vastly different from the first third’s pop/swing/ska sound. Tracks five to ten are more of what you may remember from Pushing The Salmanilla Envelope: gritty grunge rock. The best moments lie within “Fill The Blank”, “Face”, and “Pure”. The sound of Jimmy’s Chicken Shack comes to life with these tracks because the songs are more full and rich. Listening to “Fill The Blank”, I could not believe this was the same group! The vocals are a hell of a lot stronger; musically this piece creates a peaceful distortion backed by strings, a definite winner for the album. Intensity finally comes into the mix with “Face” and “Pure”. “Face” is loaded with tight, hard riffs and “Pure” features a different intensity, created by one main riff with an increasing progression of vocals and song structure.
Handling the first half of the record was a little rough for me, but the rest is not half bad. If you like a steady diet of diversity, Bring Your Own Stereo is a healthy meal.
+larry sarzyniak
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.