JEFF the Brotherhood, "Wasted On The Dream" (Infinity Cat)
March 27, 2015
Tennessee bros dial back the speed to refocus on the riffage
Reports of JEFF the Brotherhood’s death have been greatly exaggerated. After being dropped by Warner Bros and releasing two underwhelming singles, a full listen of Wasted on the Dream is kind of reassuring. The power pop songs are much more powerful and much less poppy than “Coat Check Girl,” and there’s little stunt casting like the kind found via Ian Anderson’s flute on “Black Cherry Pie.” While not a total shift in style, Wasted on the Dream represents more of a realignment of the groups sound, pushing the punk sensibilities that were found in the foreground of hits like “Sixpack” and “Ripper” into the background to push the group’s love of stoner metal in its place, made most evident by their continued commitment to crushing riffs and song titles like “Cosmic Vision” and “Mystified Minds.” This is, however, balanced out by the presence of songs like “In My Mouth” and “Karaoke, TN,” the clearest Weezer homages in a career some might suggest was built on Weezer homages (Hell, there’s even a Bethany Cosentino feature on “In My DreamsÛ). Unfortunately, some of their experiments come off as fixes to a sound that was never broken (some tracks are a little overproduced) or attempts to add depth to something that’s already deep enough. With that being said, JEFF at least sounds inspired, making Wasted on the Dream feel a little “different” than their other albums instead of a little “worse.Û
RIYL: Ty Segall, Weezer, King Tuff
Recommended: 3-5, 7
