by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Los Angeles' brotherly duo Jerkagram are kind of like the auditory equivalent of elastic. Throughout the past five years or so, the band have stretched their sound to include lengthy ambient drifts, technically stunning math, noise pop, and vividly psychedelic rock, with each element of their sound getting its own space to expand. All Eyes On Me, the band's upcoming album (due out March 8th), borrows elements from the band's past, and embraces a few new ones in the process, ever adapting into new territory. Produced by Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Big Business, Tweak Bird), the record is a head trip, pulling you down one rabbit hole before scurrying to the next.
"Skull Trumpet," the album's second single, is Brent and Derek Gaines at their finest, a sparse post-hardcore dirge that wouldn't sound out of place on Fugazi's In On The Kill Taker or say Helmet's Betty. Delivered at a snail's pace, the duo's dexterity is never in question, even in slow motion the band jitter between notes, building anticipation for the sludgy hooks. The crisp production and harsh tone lend to the dense hits of Brent's slowly pounding intricacies, every hit pronounced and deliberate. Sprawling out between the song's tension building verses and the grandiosity of the refrain, Jerkagram dive into tangled rhythms, keeping a calm temperament, even as their structure begins to unwind... and then, you hit repeat.
Jerkagram's All Eyes On Me is out March 8th.