Review by Dillon Crader
Topshelf Records’ own, The Jazz June are releasing their new album, After The Earthquake – the band’s first release in twelve years. The return of The Jazz June is an awesome occurrence, especially in the emo revival music scene. After all, The Jazz June has been an important piece to the music scene sense they began, and they’ve proven with this release that they’ve still got it.
The first track on After The Earthquake is probably one of the best songs I have heard this year. The lyrics on “Over Underground” are truly meaningful and really hit home with me. “This is life, there are consequences,” is probably the catchiest part to this song and those lyrics are really emphasized through out the track. The next track on the album, “After The Earthquake”, starts off with a really nice drum beat and fuzzy guitar. The sound in this song, and the entire album as a whole, is superb. Another song that stands out to me on this album is “It Came Back”. It’s an upbeat track that just makes me want to jam out.
After The Earthquake contains so many beautiful sounding guitar riffs, harmonies, and stunning drum parts. The vocals on this album are really calming and honestly sound perfect. I will mention that, going into this album, I didn’t expect anything too special. I immediately regret having those thoughts about The Jazz June, though, because After The Earthquake is really unique. Being a fan of the emo music scene, this album is really diverse from anything I’ve been listening to and I really respect that about this album. In a music scene that is growing and gaining more attention, it is important that bands drift away from the norm, and as I have said a million times already, this album has amazed me.
Overall, After The Earthquake blew my expectations out of the water. I am really excited to see the continuation of The Jazz June with the release of this album. Topshelf Records’ lineup has really impressed me more and more lately. After The Earthquake is an astonishing record and I am very excited for anything that The Jazz June will do after this album.
Rating: 5/5
Listen to “It Came Back”