Quite good…eventually.
Its funny how first impressions are not always right. If we gloss over the fact that this reviewer submitted a review of Jape just over a year ago for R13 and focus on the initial impression of this albyum then the expectations were rather low.
The opening track on the ‘Ritual’ album by Jape is rubbish. There is no getting around the fact that ‘Christopher and Anthony’ is a terrible song. The lyrics are trite and childish and the chorus sounds like it was stolen from the studio bin of OMD. Sure OMD may have had some moments of pop sensibility but by and large they were poor and anything in their bin is bound to be even worse. It sounds like something that someone wanting to parody the electronica zeitgeist would knock out. It lacks the humour to be a parody; it doesn’t have the class to be a genuine track. It is fair to say that things were not looking good for Jape, a name which was seemingly very unapt at first listen.
However, ‘I Was A Man’, the second song, starts very well and immediately earns the record a second chance. Over its four and a half minutes the song squelches in the right place and the vocals are more in line with the better sounds from the electro genre. Its understated but classy, definitely something the scenesters would (inwardly) enjoy whilst looking like they don’t give a fuck. And from here on, the album gels and seems to work. Even the ‘Phil Lynott’ tribute song comes across okay which is amazing because this is an outcome which seemed impossible during the opening track.
It lacks the killer choruses or ultimate pop edge of Hot Chip but lovers of that band will find a lot to enjoy here. The more sinister album tracks by Hot Chip are a reference point for someone wondering what the Jape sound is like and that is not a bad thing at all. ‘Graveyard’ definitely has the Hit Chip vibe and is not a million miles away from the sound of ‘One Pure Thought’, again, without the killer chorus.
There is no massive finish to the album the second last song ‘Strike Me Down’ has some lively sections but ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ brings the album to a sedate close. It is fair to say the bookend tracks are the worst songs on the record with everything else being rather good. This is unfortunate as first and last impression tend to stick in your mind the most but given that eight out the ten songs here are largely enjoyable it has to be said that this is a decent album. A better sequence of tracks wouldn’t go amiss the next time around though.