Originally from Alaska, they found their way to Portland and immediately set about crafting their sound in the only way they knew how…playing live as often as possible. Always on the go and eager to play any gig, any time, anywhere, The Wild Jumps have earned a reputation as a one of the hardest-working, dependable, and above all FUN bands to ever grace a dive-bar stage. After a couple of years and some lineup changes, the band decided to finally get an album out for the world to hear, and it is the result of that effort that now assaults your eyes and ears.
The album starts much like every show with The Wild Jumps begins: With a laugh. Sounding less like a studio recording and more like a live gig, this album starts with a quick introduction of the band over a driving drum and bass beat, and the launches into the heavily distorted guitar attack of Vincent K. for the song “Common Sense Is A Super Power”, detailing the rarity of this supposed ‘common’ trait.
Two minutes and 2 seconds later comes track 2, “Itinerary”, a slowed-down, bluesy as fuck romp through vocalist Allie R.’s mind. This song touches on the old adage that it is often more about the journey than the destination, and how it is often better to take life as it comes. “Your plans won’t take. Chaos can’t be faked. There’s always time and places. Stories are in-between spaces.”
“Action” kicks you directly in the face with a scathing, surreal commentary on modern media’s obsession with fear and violence. This is one of the more musically adept songs on the album, veering like a drunk driver between straight-ahead Punk riffs and slower Blues-Rock verses to keep the listener nervous as hell. A faux newscast in the break between choruses screams of the need to follow the ‘If It Bleeds, It Leads’ mentality that all news outlets crave, jamming more and crazier acts of atrocity down our throats in the guise of ‘News’.
Let’s take a moment to look at the album itself, which is just another extension of the endless amusing dichotomies that are The Wild Jumps. A lovingly hand-printed lyrics book, artwork on every page, with goddamn hand-stitched binding for crying out loud, contrasts ever so sharply with the label-less, hastily and messily Sharpie-scribbled CD. It’s almost as if the idea was to sell the cover, and the album itself is a last-minute afterthought. This is The Wild Jumps in a nutshell…
“40lb Chain” is a crowd favorite, and invokes the early Punk Rock sounds of the 1970s, both musically and lyrically. It starts off well enough, with 45 seconds of light, jangly surf-punk, and then it all falls apart and lets the darkness in. Heavy as hell mentally and physically, this song speaks of the oppressive nature of life, and how we all have suffered under the crushing opprobrium of those who tell us what to do. This song is seemly designed to piss you off, and leave you wanting to hit something.
The next track, “I’m Through”, takes a page from the album Rock of the 1980s, and is the soundtrack to every person who has ever slammed their head off the brick wall of life, only to get the good feeling that comes when you finally stop. One of the shortest songs on the album, “I’m Through” should be the new dictionary definition for ‘futility’.
Next, we look at the longest song on the album, “Waiting”, coming in just shy of 4 minutes. this song is probably the most powerful on the whole album and showcases Allie R.’s soulful, powerful vocals as well as some serious lead licks from Vincent. This song is all about how the obligations and distractions of everyday life wear away at the idealism we start with, hanging like a millstone around our necks, dragging us down. “And when that’s finally done you have nothing to lose. One final pack-up, you’ve paid your dues. But then you can’t bend down to tie your shoes. And suddenly you find that you’re too weak to pick up your pack and get on your feet.” Heavy stuff…
After “Waiting”, we need something lighter and happier to stop us from cutting our wrists, and The Wild Jumps deliver with track 11, “Are You Listening?”. Starting off like the B-52’s on a meth bender, this song rips right through the bullshit with some real talk about real talk. This song expounds on the fact that we all want to be the star of our personal narrative, the hero in our internal action movie, but walk a fine line between popularity and pretentiousness. We all crave excitement, and just want to be noticed.
The Wild Jumps have learned along the way that your band is only as good as your last performance and put everything they have into every show. Frantic antics from each member keep the crowd entertained, and Allie spends as much time on the dance floor with the crows as she does on stage, making sure nobody is left bored. This attention to their fans has earned them quite a following.
“Cut Those Ties” is an older song, one of the first The Wild Jumps made as a band, and always gets a great reaction when played live. Solid performance from every member give this track added weight, and the thought-provoking lyrics will have the audience thinking about this song for days after the gig. “Kids will all learn that Santa’s not real, but there are people to fear who murder, rape and steal.
But it’s harder to see when looking at yourself the ones you are closest to are ruining your health.”
The album closes with the anthemic “Good Enough For Punk”, a driving, intense song about how you don’t have to be the best, you just have to be yourself and everything will work out fine. Heavy, grinding guitar layered over growling bass lines make this song stand out, stand up, and demand attention. The perfect song to close the album with!
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