I’m not sure any song this year has burrowed its way into my brain more effectively than “Monday,” the springtime offering from LA power-pop band Jawdropped. That song is catchy as hell, it moves with an irresistible momentum, and I love the noisy tension threaded into it, which neatly dovetails with the lyrics about delighted, anxious anticipation. It’s further elevated by the music video, a simple but effective clip that finds the four members of Jawdropped performing in front of windows in different rooms of a building. You know how you can be vaguely aware of a band and then one song comes along and snaps you into focus, and then you’re an enthusiastic fan? “Monday” was that song for me.
So I’m pleased to announce today that Jawdropped have an album on the way. Secret To Spare, the band’s full-length debut, is coming in September. The Teenage Fanclub is strong with “Split Lip,” the hard-jangling midtempo swoon they’ve released today. The wall of strummy and arpeggiated guitars on this one is thick, but it never weighs down the track’s airy sense of motion. “Split Lip” is, however, weighed down by the standard-issue concerns of a buzzy young rock band, as Jawdropped’s Roman Zangari explains:
It’s about being in a band and struggling to keep your shit in check. You spend your whole life as a musician striving for success and hoping to experience all these things that the four of us were experiencing for the first time. This song weighs out the excitement of that with the underwhelming reality of it all: We’re still broke, there’s no guarantee that any of this is going to lead to anything. How do you know that these decisions you’ve made are gonna pan out in the future?
Rob Fraebel’s “Split Lip” video showcases Jawdropped and their friends having fun against a beautiful LA backdrop. Watch below, where you’ll also find the Secret To Spare tracklist and Jawdropped’s tour dates, including a handful with Soccer Mommy and This Is Lorelei.
TRACKLIST:
01 “The Line”
02 “Monday”
03 “Split Lip”
04 “Cellulite”
05 “High Beams”
06 “Cup”
07 “Smoglight”
08 “Pitch Black”
09 “Whiplash”
10 “Two”
TOUR DATES:
07/09 – Denver, CO @ Denver Botanic Gardens ^
09/22 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups *
09/23 – Indianapolis, IN @ Turntable *
10/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
10/08 – New York, NY @ Night Club 101
10/22 – Rotterdam, NL @ Left of the Dial Festival
10/23 – Rotterdam, NL @ Left of the Dial Festival
10/25 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree
10/27 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
10/28 – Gent, BE @ Ringo
10/30 – Sheffield, UK @ Alder
11/02 – London, UK @ Pitchfork London
11/03 – Southampton, UK @ Joiners
11/04 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade
11/06 – Nantes, FR @ Catapult Festival
11/07 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Paris
^ w/ Soccer Mommy
* w/ This Is Lorelei
Secret To Spare is out 9/18 on Transgressive/Canvasback. Pre-order it here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
