‘Their Prime’ is the debut LP from new Sub Pop signings Jo Passed, and it operates as a kind of grunge concept album. Dealing with the gentrification in the band’s hometown of Vancouver, it is a riotous melange of churning guitars and thrashy rhythms, overcast by the fey lyrical mumblings of Jo Hirabayashi.
Stand-out moments include the lead single MDM; a track that critiques selfie culture through fabulous textual interplay, snarling guitar riffage and deliquescent double tracked vocals. It’s an angsty anthem of intense musicality, and it could rival anything by Smashing Pumpkins, Bush or Silverchair.
A similar feeling is present on Glass, which demonstrates fascinating harmonic variation with riffs that dart between intricate grungy dissonance and primal rock.
Unorthodox in its call and response arrangement, this track has punk spikiness that recalls Tony Visconti’s guitar work on David Bowie’s Yassassin, and it’s also in seven-time; a time signature one does not see enough in pop music.
In fact, the guitar playing is probably the best thing on the record, navigating complex riffs (Repair), nimble runs (Undemo) and watery romance (Places Please) with distinction. Stylistically, it lands somewhere between Graham Coxon and Mike McCready, presenting erudite sloppiness alongside narrow, crunchy tonality.
It’s hard to envisage there being a more exciting debut album from a similarly grunge-based band this year. One of the genre’s historical problems is that it comes across like the sound a band makes when it doesn’t care what kind of sound it makes, but ‘Their Prime’ - with its atonal wanderlust and intricate arrangements - feels incredibly fresh.
The clue is there in the album’s title: when was the last time a group married their band name with the name of the record in this way? It suggests a degree of original thinking in Jo Passed, which bodes well for the future. Superb.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
