Release Date: September 14th 2010
Genre: Acoustic / Pop
Label: Flying Carpet Records
MySpace: www.myspace.com/jacksonwetherbeemusic  

The first thing that can be said about The Jackson Wetherbee Band’s debut LP is that it is certainly well-ordered. If a band wants to catch the listener and pull their full attention toward the album, they need a strong hook of an opener – Jackson Wetherbee provides this in “Ages of Tomorrow”. The delicious acoustic guitar and keyboard quirks find you in full wind-cruising mode. This is followed near flawlessly by “Sally Sees” which, by once having your attention, slows down the pace. It follows a traditional form in terms of a micro-ballad, herein incorporating elements of a lighter-toned Damien Rice.

“Weeping Willow” brings forth a new flavor by accompanying organ with a sweetened saxophone lick. Toward the song’s closing moments, this is warped into a reggae-like beat, showing that while in a slightly sombre lyrical moment, inevitable kookiness can be found.

“Irish Feet” is the first piano-infused song, signalling it to be one of the more emotional tracks of the collected record. While we’ve experienced Jackson Wetherbee to be on the more lighthearted side of the band demographic, “Irish Feet” opens with the beautified lyric, “Take a life, take a soul, prevent the good and learn from the old. Take one love through a song; we are here to feel like we belong.” It’s rich with the kind of imagery that would make a beautiful accompaniment to any midnight journey – the piano’s rhythm practically visualizes garish orange streetlights passing through the windows of a deserted highway.

Following “Irish Feet” is a mix of emotionally provoking, slower beated songs, each possessing their own silver charm but what comes in as ninth on the track list proves to be golden. “Silhouette” is easily the most tenderly felt composition on the album. This creation strikes up at first a lover’s ballad, simple and acoustic with a soft drumming background – but then, just as the lyric,“Shakin’ me, shakin’ me to the bone,” is uttered, a jittering explosion is emitted. It is made up of a raucous riff that gives the physical impression of seeping beneath one’s skin and vibrating through the marrow. It is this significant effervescence that makes a track such as “Silhouette” so very unique – in terms of this kind of raw emotion entrapped in simple lyrics, the other songs don’t dig under the surface like this.

Then enters “Let Us Lie Here”, which is a jazz-infused slow dance in long grasses beneath a vast moon. The mid-section of the song becomes a suddenly strong statement with a more violent disposition than the first impression of the song allowed. Closing the album is the electrically sparked “We’re Not Giving Up Now” which is essentially a statement song – inadvertently telling us that there is far more to come from The Jackson Wetherbee Band.

And so there should be! Jackson Wetherbee embodies a style of independent rock that was once worn on the sleeve of Jack Johnson, but The Jackson Wetherbee Band displays it with a monumental amount of zest. In a time where cheerful music has been thought of as malnourishing and essentially bland, it is certainly gleefully exciting to experience something so audibly vibrant as The Jackson Wetherbee Band.