The monkeys in the zoo have more fun than me --- Jape --- 2004 (Trust me I'm a thief)
Fourth album by Dublin's Jape, with certainly one of the funnest titles I've seen in a long time, this is again a new venture for me, having heard nothing from this band prior to this. Let's hope it turns out better than my first (and, after that, last) encounter with Therapy?! Formed in 2003 as a side project by Richie Egan to his current band the Redneck Manifesto, Jape are said to be electro/pop, so that in itself would not seem to bode well for me, an old rocker. But this week is all about exploring every aspect of Irish music I can fit in, not just rock, and anyway, after enduring “A brief crack of light” last night, I'm ready for a little synthpop fluff. So let's have a listen.
There are only eight tracks on the album, and the opener, and lead single, “Floating”, has a nice laidback almost eastern feel to it, with sitar-like sounds and possibly jews harp, thick synthesisers laying down a nice easy soundscape and Richie's voice quite soothing, sounds on the keys made to sound like bubbles (floating, geddit?) and it's a nice easygoing start, continued then in “Reminding me”, with a slow, low keyboard line and drums so sparse they're almost not there, but some lovely sparkly keys too, a very understated vocal more suited really to an acoustic number, though nothing even gets close to rocking out here, if Jape ever do, which I don't know. Lovely introspective guitar keeping pace with the keys. This song takes the word laidback to new levels. Lovely. It's followed by “How much light”, a slightly more uptempo song with some nice harmonica and a sort of semi-reggae beat.
I'm not entirely sure, but I get the impression Jape is a one-man affair, with Egan playing all the instruments and singing, and writing all the compositions, though I could be wrong. Information on the band (singer, whatever) is hard to come by: even the official website doesn't make it clear. But I think it is a solo effort. At any rate, things go back to relaxing and ballad territory with “The hardest thing to do”, mostly carried on guitar, the instrument almost used as an extension of Richie's voice. It's quite echoey, as if he were recording in a large, empty room, and adds to the intimate, down-to-earth feel you get from his music.
More upfront guitar then in a slightly, well, louder track with “To the sea”, yet retaining the restrained feel of pretty much most of this album, getting a little rockier as it approaches the last two minutes, some nice percussion kicking in and accompanying the guitar in an instrumental ending. Lounge-style guitar and a certain sense of early Santana then in “A journey is just a memory”, while “Autumn summer” is a little more uptempo --- though not much --- some nice keys and gentle percussion, and the album then ends on the longest track, six and three quarter minutes of “Always knew”, a slow, lazy, relaxed guitar piece with a nice little jangly and catchy riff running through it.
Probably one of the most laidback albums I've listened to since Antimatter's “Planetary confinement” or Lanterns on the Lake's “Gracious tide, take me home”, Jape prove, or proves, that rock music does not have to be necessarily loud and fast to sound good, and that there is definitely room in Irish music for the more introspective, contemplative and intimate sound. With work like this to back him up, it's not at all surprising really that Jape just last week won the Meteor Choice Music award for the new album “Ocean of frequency”, previous album “Ritual” having scooped the same award in 2008.
TRACKLISTING
1. Floating
2. Reminding me
3. How much light
4. The hardest thing to do
5. To the sea
6. A journey is just a memory
7. Autumn summer
8. Always knew