Album Review: Jaill - Traps

The third long-player from Milwaukee outfit Jaill is a much different beast to their second effort, 2010's That's How We Burn. The lyrics of frontman Vinnie Kircher are still fairly inscrutable, but it seems like something fairly heavy has happened to dampen the mood, resignation now rife where there once resided revelry. It just seems somehow slower across the board, and while there remain catchy moments and hooks aplenty, there's no one track as insistent as the prior album's standout, Everyone's Hip. In fact the corresponding cut would probably be Everyone's A Bitch, the new track fittingly slightly more down-tempo and downcast in tone.

Kircher's nasally vocals and worldweary outlook dominate proceedings, whether it be the indie pomp of Perfect Ten – sounding more akin to The New Pornographers than their previous garage contemporaries – or the toe-tapping I'm Home, which isn't miles removed from mid-era The Shins with its incessant bounce and numerous quirky vocal hooks. There are a few mellower, almost acoustic tracks that fit in well: Horrible Things (Make Pretty Songs) is indeed pleasant on the ear while quite despondent lyrically (“No one to take care of/No one to take care of me”) and the meandering Madness both hold up to close scrutiny.

But the main problem with Traps is that there aren't really any. It's all too predictable – hazy laidback indie pop music with just enough nods to the worlds of surf and psych to keep it interesting, but not enough to make it imperative. It's a tad too refined, like they have something in reserve. Here's hoping they rekindle the spark which makes their music – and seemingly their lives – much more enjoyable.