by Kris Handel (@khandel84)
Secret to Spare is the debut full length from Los Angeles’ Jawdropped, a guitar-pop/power-pop quartet that relentlessly surges and occasionally bounces their way forward amid aching songwriting. Many of these tracks highlight coming-of-age moments while looking forward to the future with skewed optimism and tenderness. The vocals of Kyra Morling and Roman Zangari mix together wonderfully, blending weary emotion and a slightly withdrawn deadpan to prod at foolish decisions and encourage new beginnings. Jawdropped combine the slacker nonchalance of Evan Dando with the spiky brightness of bands like mid-period Teenage Fanclub and Superchunk while never betraying their own distinct talents.
“Monday” is a rolling tangle of Zangari’s jangly guitar and Sean Edwards’ popping bass lines as the song mixes jumpy Midwest pop with blasts of distortion. Energetically bound, Jawdropped recall a tighter Replacements with a bit more verve and a sterner approach. “Cellulite” highlights Morling’s vocals as she sweetly drawls amidst the crunching guitars on this tale of youthful infatuation and the nerves that accompany coming to grips with evolving feelings. The instrumentation entertainingly swings between moody shuffle, bright jangle, and swaying bass that lays the groundwork for Morling’s sly wit and coy vocals.
“Split Lip” employs loud-quiet dynamics as the vocals backhandedly acknowledge that things that often look too good to be true quite often are and the bruises that form from from lived experience. The jaunty melodies betray the stuck-in-limbo tale of bad choices and regrets, offering a playful approach to dreading situations of unforeseen limbo. “Two” closes the album with a sprawling and wistful bit of Americana-tinged balladry that finds the vocalists occasionally connecting on warm heart tugging harmonies. After a full-force rush of emotions, closing things out with a leisurely tenderness proves quite effective, giving the audience a chance to catch their breath and accept the moments of ease with gratitude.
Jawdropped have made a record where melody and harmonies buzz around and add color to songwriting that questions one’s own instincts, grappling with the consequences of decisions in a thoughtful and open nature. These songs are insistent earworms that reward coming back when feeling in the mood to relive treasured moments of growth and love. Oftentimes guitar driven power-pop can skew too close to a paint by numbers script but Jawdropped’s music flows out of the speakers with a bright liveliness allowing their songs to stand out with a glimmer of nostalgia and impressive promise. Secret to Spare is the type of record to put on in the early days of spring when there is a promise of things getting a little brighter and things can be seen with a different vibrancy.