Thirty-two minutes. Eleven songs. That's the lean, guitar pop mini-opus that is "That's How We Burn," the Sub Pop Records debut from Milwaukee's own Jaill. The record was released today.
With the help of the ace production work of Justin Perkins, the band -- Vinnie Kircher, Austin Dutmer, Andy Harris and Ryan Adams -- has created a jangly masterwork that is more polished than Jaill's slightly less taut onstage version and capitalizes on the melodies, energy and catchy riffs that make these songs so memorable.
The thundering and plodding drums and dark vibe of opening track "The Stroller" are somewhat misleading. Because from "Everyone's Hip" forward, "That's How We Burn" is a searing collection of upbeat tunes that rarely crack the three-minute mark and sometimes never even quite tickle two minutes.
Adding depth are the melancholic streak that fuels "Thank Us Later" and the acoustic guitars that come out for "Summer Mess."
"She's My Baby," "Snake Shakes" and "That's How We Burn" are the highlights of the second half. But, really, there's nary a low point here.
Maybe because Jaill has taken such a long, at times slow, route to its shot at stardom -- leaving a trail of 45s and CDs in its wake -- the band carefully assembled the best weapons in its arsenal and polished them perfectly for the label that brought the world Nirvana.
Or maybe they just lucked into making one of the best records of the year. But, I doubt it.
Jaill officially launches the record here at home on Aug. 14 at Turner Hall. Sugar Stems and The Get Drunk DJs also perform at the 8 p.m. show. The gig kicks off a West Coast run with The Hold Steady that fills the last two weeks of the month.
You can stream "That's How We Burn" in its entirety until Wednesday, July 28. Click here to listen.
Sub Pop says if you pre-order the record today (July 27), you will also get a free patch handmade by Jaill. Click here to pre-order.
Stay tuned to OnMilwaukee.com because we're giving away two Jaill prize packs -- courtesy of Sub Pop Records -- in advance of the CD release show here. Winners will get a CD, poster and stickers.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
