It might be weird and silly on the surface, but Jockstrap magnificently tells a deeper connection and longing in 'I Love You Jennifer B'. Exploring a cityscape that connects the glitch and the baroque, as well as the bizzare and the vulnerable that makes for quite a lovely listen.
Cityscapes have always been the birthplace of stories and experiences both normal and bizarre. These places have been the starting ground of interactions that will lead people to very interesting roads, nooks, and crannies. Once you get used to being in the city, you will realize that the weird will be normalized, and all the absurd and abstract languages formed by artists of varying kinds will soon be vulnerable, sometimes even resonant. And if there was an act that may as well encapsulate this really well, it may as well be Jockstrap.
They have always been painting those city soundscapes in their art pop drapes clashing with baroque footprints that are defiantly heard in those past EPs, where that balancing point between glitch and folk as well as silly and vulnerable are displayed from the instrumentation, production, and the writing. These are helped out by Georgia Ellery’s warm vocals that echo the portrayal of these starry-eyed individuals with their touching, sometimes giddish stories of bonding with others. And with their debut record ‘I Love You Jennifer B’, those core elements have not only been expanded upon but are also executed in a way that makes it feel like an oddball singer-songwriter record made for modern times.
The record reaches for a wider set of soundscapes that Jockstrap has never touched upon before, where the production emphasizes the details in its varied touches of club, noise, and glitch electronic textures and Georgia Ellery’s vocals that embody a sense of tenderness and curiosity from the likes of Regina Spektor, Julia Holter, and even Joni Mitchell. The composition blends folkier melodies with glitchy blemishes, and writing that brings more quirk and vulnerability with balance.
Just like what they’ve built up upon in the past, they use their synthetic bombast to make sense of an absurd and quirky cityscape. ‘Greatest Hits’ trails its themes about companionship with tasteful synths smoothing off the rumbling basslines, stompy drums, and elegant and cheeky vocals. ‘Debra’ roams off with staccato keys and wiry synth effects before it accelerates with the blubbery percussion and weaving strings as the Fiona Apple-esque vocals tiptoe around lyricism that tiptoes between yearning and absurdity. ‘Jennifer B’ steps it up a notch as the theme of physical reconnection goes in odd directions, with the soft vocals playing off the croaky male refrains, shuffling beat, whimpering effects, and wavy synths.
Underneath those, however, lies all of its emotions. ‘Neon’ blasts the record with its haunting atmosphere from the sullen vocals, guitar strums, and keyboards that sweep off to a bludgeoning soundscape, telling the themes of a relationship on a collapse. ‘Concrete Over Water’ with its analog synths, gorgeous vocal melodies that are reminiscent of Regina Spektor, and sprays of violins and pianos build up to a cascading whirring synth breakdown accompanied by pattering drums, communicating the impressionistic yet longing refrains of someone with their partner on a bridge. ‘Angst’ plays things spare, a harp and a simple drum beat accompanying Georgia’s tender vocals whose theme details a display of negative thoughts. ‘What’s It All About?’ paints a picture of someone reflecting on a crush with soothing vocal melodies, sweet acoustics, and thumping drums. And ‘Glasgow’ takes its themes of sexual lyricism with a modern take of a Joni Mitchell cut, filled with captivating guitar strums, sweeping strings, slight glitchy synths, and sweet vocal melodies.
As much as there is a lot to admire in Jockstrap’s expansion of their sound and tone, there were patches that could’ve been filled. The first is that there is a lack of a stronger sense of ending to culminate the narratives written in the record, where after ‘Lancaster Court’, a song that could’ve been a good ending of this record with its refrains of moving forward amidst echoing guitar strums comes to the song ‘50/50’, clashing away not just from the flow of the second half but also makes the record end in an odd note with its sly seduction from the glitchy dance beats. And speaking of flow, the momentum can feel slightly cluttered as the record jumps from track to track, confusing the experience at spots. It does make sense when the record touches upon the bending experiences of those that are in the city, but it can be a nitpick at spots.
Still, Jockstrap’s debut envelops the weird and the emotional aspects of the cityscape with a grand array of quality, where even the tracks that might cut off the flow of the record at spots are still pretty good. Georgia Ellery’s vocals are an amalgamation as well as a force of resonance within the realm of pop and folk, and Taylor Skye’s choice of arrangements and production help the synthetic and the organic to lift themselves together rather than elevate one over the other. Georgia Ellery is right about describing their debut, as each song is indeed their own banger in an album that is also filled with bangers. A greatest hit indeed.
Favorite Tracks: Neon, Concrete Over Water, Glasgow, Angst, Debra, Greatest Hits, What’s It All About?
Least Favorite Track: 50/50