The Mysterious Message from Massive Fish
Asleep at Lunchtime - The Doublejumps (Newer Music Tuesday)
A few months ago, I was approached on the street by a hooded stranger with a mysterious message, and it changed my life.
I guess you should know that by “approached on the street”, I mean replied to under a comment I made under a performance by The Lemon Twigs on Youtube. And by a “hooded stranger”, I mean a channel called “Massive Fish”. And also, when I say “a mysterious message”, I mean that the reply said “If you like The Lemon Twigs, you might like a band called The Doublejumps.” But I wasn’t being hyperbolic about the “changed my life” part!!
Well, I’m not one to just ignore things like this, so I hopped on over to their Spotify and pressed play on the first song I saw, one titled “Birthday Money”, and after hearing just a little bit, I made sure to thank “Massive Fish” for recommending them to me. (By the way, I wasn’t special. This exact phrase was copy-pasted under a few other comments under this video, and from the comment section on some of The Doublejumps’ videos, on several other comments on random videos as well. Honestly, great marketing strategy!!)
In my opinion, “Birthday Money” was the perfect introduction to The Doublejumps, and that’s why I’m happy that it’s the opening track on their brand new DEBUT album, Asleep at Lunchtime. The punctuating snare drum (played excellently by drummer Rodney Cruen-Powell) drives the beat into a sort of marching band feel, and when combined with the slow, bending sound of the guitar, it creates a really interesting contrast. But it’s the chorus that really got me, with the tight harmonies of vocalists Kayleb Duckett and Olivia Day creating a hypnotizingly lovely experience, enhanced by warped-sounding vocals that remind me of The Beatles on Sgt. Pepper. Also, for all my fellow musicians, the way that the drums & chords are played on the offbeats make the song even better!!! Offbeat supremacy, honestly. It gives you something to headbang to!
The second track on the album, “The Garden”, is much flowier compared to the song that precedes it. Instead of a headbang, it invokes more of a “head-sway” from side to side. It lives up to the name, as for some reason, it sounds exactly the way I believe a flower garden on a beautiful summer day feels. Again, the drums really are a standout in this song, smoothly keeping everything in line. And don’t you dare overlook the egg shaker in the chorus! Speaking from experience, “The Garden” is a song you can listen to on repeat several times and never get tired of.
Yet another contrast is drawn when the next song, “The SRC (Student Representative Council)” comes crashing onto the scene. To me, “The SRC” sounds like if The Kinks went punk, or at least as punk as you could imagine The Kinks would go. Think “You Really Got Me” backwards, where the chorus is calmer than the verses instead of vice versa. I always love when rhythm guitar & bass are combined to create that chunky sound, and the fuzzy yet articulate guitar solos really add a cool element to the song.
The song following this is an outstanding display of how well The Doublejumps can make a song feel comfortable. This “comfortable” quality — something I also define as a “melting” quality — is something that, if I can identify it in a song, makes it an immediate favorite. “Lazy” to me, has a similar feel to Stereolab’s “Flower Called Nowhere” and The Apples in Stereo’s “Green Machine”, which happen to be two of my favorite songs. Also, I can’t resist a good falsetto, so it was kinda over for me from the start.
These few songs are just an excerpt of the album, yet I believe that they are a good representation of what to expect when listening to Asleep at Lunchtime. The fact that the Doublejumps have defined their own unique sound this early in their career is a great sign for their future. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next, and also hoping that “Massive Fish” will continue advertising them so that more people can realize how awesome they are!
Got something I should hear? Let me know here!