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[Phillip Graham]

A friend of mine sent me mp3s of the new JEW record "Futures." that he found on a message board or something.  Curious if anyone else has heard it.  Also, who is the (presumed) new producer?

The writing harkens back to Clarity, but it lacks Trombino's big guitars and use of solid synth low end.

Oh, and the A&R/Label smashed it pretty good in mastering.

Not meant to be a flame or anything, it just makes me realize I miss Trombino's treatment of the band's sound.

[JPRisus]

could be wrong but i thought they were working with trombino again on the new stuff... he also did Clarity IIRC, which i personally prefer over Bleed America or whatever the radio rock album was...

[j.hall]

i had heard they were with trombino as well

trombino has worked with the band since static prevails

at this point, he's a member of the band.

and if you don't think clarity and bleed american are SMASHED in the mix...........................................

[Phillip Graham]

j.hall wrote on Tue, 24 August 2004 15:14

i had heard they were with trombino as well trombino has worked with the band since static prevails at this point, he's a member of the band. and if you don't think clarity and bleed american are SMASHED in the mix...........................................

So I did a bit more digging, and it turns out that Gil Norton did the record.  I knew I wasn't crazy.

And yes, both albums of the prior albums (esp. B.A.) are totally slammed, so for this to seem even more so is why I noticed it.

It's still going to be a good record for fans to check; I'll be buying it.

[redelephant]

Yes, they dumped Trombino because he was trying to re-write their songs.

They have the new single (Pain) up on the iTunes music store. There is also an "EP" with a cover of Prodigy's Firestarter, which I think was done during the Trombino sessions. That too is exclusively available on the iTunes music store.

I love Clarity, it has to be one of my favorite albums. I haven't heard anything come out of Trombino that has been that fantastic since, though.. actually with exception to The Record Play by Mock Orange. This is probably because he works with horrible pop-punk bands trying to make it on majors.

I wish he would've mixed the newest Jealous Sound record. I loved what he did on their first EP, but the new CD just blows in the mixing department.

[JPRisus]

j.hall wrote on Tue, 24 August 2004 15:14

and if you don't think clarity and bleed american are SMASHED in the mix...........................................

everything Trombino touches gets smashed, check out Finch too...


and i'm sure the new one will be, even if Gil Norton is doing it. The couple of records I have by him are KILLED.

I dunno, i liked Clarity when i first heard it, but it's too lethargic to enjoy on a regular basis IMHO.  Bleed American is just too generic for me. i feel like anyone else on the radio in '02 could have written those songs.

[breathe310]

Used to be a big Jimmy fan starting around the time of Static Prevails.  Loved Clarity, but when Bleed American came out, I just couldn't get over how much I didn't like it.  Production was a bit overdone for them IMO.  In the end though, I just thought the songs were pretty weak compared to some of their older stuff.  I've really been looking forward to hearing the new one though, and am hopeful it'll remind me why I liked their music in the first place.

[spankenstein]

I think it's pretty good so far. I thought the guitars were a lot more prevalent like... some metal influence goign on on a couple. I haven't listened to it on anything but cheap little computer speakers so I have nothing to say about the produiction.

[mogwailoveyou]

good ole' jew. i think i agree with most people who've commented, used to love everything before bleed american (except the original self-titled... god that was a miserable album) but since then i've stopped judging albums based on thier "makeoutability" they have fallen out of grace as one of my favorite bands. the irony of all the comments on production values with trombino (not so much of a fan...he's greasy-smooth  and rough at the same time in a bad way, like bad grits) is that perhaps my favorite song by the band is one of their most under-produced. "Untitled" is what emo should be, simple, raw, and tears the most jaded emobacklashed heart to pieces with each quiet quasiscream... plus their duran duran cover of new religion is quite delightful, i'll give it a shot though, nostalgia still gets the best of me listening to 'em (sans that abomination that was bleed american)

[JPRisus]

redelephant wrote on Tue, 24 August 2004 17:08

This is probably because he works with horrible pop-punk bands trying to make it on majors.

yeah he really needs to stop that... he and many many others!  But i'm sure it will persist, and dozens of generic pop-punk albums will always be prevalent in the marketplace. and they'll all be killed by bus compression and limiting before they even make it to mastering. and we'll all look back in 10 years and laugh at them!

i get a kick out of listening to Finch and Bleed American, and picking out the parts that are EXACTLY the same... like chorus/verse transition riffs, guitar tones/effects, overal structures, etc. It really cracks me up how he genericized those two bands. We know that JEW has potential though, they've proven it in the past... Finch may not have had a fighting choice.

[weihfool]

mogwailoveyou wrote on Wed, 25 August 2004 17:46

....perhaps my favorite song by the band is one of their most under-produced.

Did you ever hear "What I Would Say To You Now"??  God that is by far my favorite song from them.  The funny thing is I've always wanted to hear it with better production, but now that I listen to it again I would have to assume a slicked up recording might take away some of what i love about it: It sounds like 4 guys in a room just rocking out.  

I think the new record is a definite step in the right direction, but there is a slight stink of "Bleed American" still lingering...  

[redelephant]

weihfool wrote on Thu, 26 August 2004 01:50

Did you ever hear "What I Would Say To You Now"??  God that is by far my favorite song from them.  The funny thing is I've always wanted to hear it with better production, but now that I listen to it again I would have to assume a slicked up recording might take away some of what i love about it: It sounds like 4 guys in a room just rocking out.

YES! I heard that song from a live recording and I loved it. When it came out on the comp they released I still loved it. I think when people reacted to the song 'Sweetness' live, they really tried to over do it in the studio. I know they would do the same in the case of that song. Its the Jimmy way...

[spankenstein]

I don't know what recording it's from but I have a crappy mp3 of Sweetness that is a lot more raw ans has an acoustic guitar solo. I like that MUCH better than the one on Bleed American.

[mogwailoveyou]

haha there's like 5 versions of sweetness, it's been rotating around for quite a while before bleed american. that used to be one of my favorite songs... and at least they made that the third single after choosing the worst two songs jew ever recorded for the first two. seriously now! the middle is perhaps one of the worst songs ever made with their most redundant and rediculous lyrics aside from their butchering of the lines "crimson and clover over and over..."

[spankenstein]

I have a feeling by next spring we will be bombarded with Jenny on all of the modern rock stations.

[mogwailoveyou]

i shudder to think...
*looks around slowly hoping nobody noticed the horrible pun*

there's something about an old band that i loved getting whored by the industry fatcats to the "human herd" as i believe james madison put it. especially when it's for their worst music... are people really just that stupid, naive, and predictable or maybe it's us that have really bad taste.

[spankenstein]

I just finished another listen... I like slow, airy songsbut crap... the last half of this album is slow and airy and brings me down. I noticed this about Deathcab for Cutie's Transatlanticism. It just kind of dies halfway through.

[mogwailoveyou]

now deathcab is a sad sad story. a band with so much talent and vision (despite the fact that vision was to become an indie beatles...) something about planes was such a good album... dark, slow, twisted, ethereal, and chock full of reverb and air. my theory is that somebody mislabeled them an emo band one too many times and gibbards fragile yet bloated head cracked and transatlanticism spewed from the graphic sappy mess.

but that's just a theory i could be wrong.