Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Jiggley Jones - Not Your Typical day Out



Jiggley Jones - Not Your Typical Day Out


Jiggley Jones returns to the forefront of modern Americana with his new full-length feature, Not Your Typical Day Out, which carries on the tried and true tradition of uncut artistic expression through the medium of music that was started by countryside minstrels so many generations ago. In the ten songs offered here, Jiggley presents us ten uniquely individual tales of love, mystery and the never ending journey towards self-awareness.

Our album opens with the majestic “Danger Island.” Bluegrass-stained strings invite us deeper into a cozy scene of two people sitting beside one another. Jones’ vocal penetrates the pastureland with a Dylanesque disdain; “Cannibals are everywhere,” he tells us, as if to warn of the many greedy eyes that surround a lustful heart so easily taken advantage of. Suddenly an alarm clock breaks in, and “Wide Awake” kicks into gear, stylishly reading what feels like a love letter to a femme fatale. Here we view the concept of love as being a wild and free energy that is uncontainable, contagious even. “Vibrant” takes us careening through a flood of childhood memories and emotional turning points in the maturation of a young adult. The things that make us who we are, we end up experiencing them all over when we have children of our own, and reliving the same incorruptibility that youth provides us. The meticulously arranged ballad “Del Alma” brings a cool harmonica melody into the fold and evokes images of a dark nighttime sky that sometimes seems to be the only thing we’ve got to count on in this crazy world. The gathering crowd of voices and harmonious band-play assembles before our ears, as if to affirm to us that Jones is speaking for countless people when he proclaims his message of love and proud eccentricities.

The second half of Not Your Typical Day Out doesn’t let down, either. “That Pearl,” the sixth song on the record, opens with a piano striking aggressively into melodic acoustic guitars. Suddenly we find ourselves drifting down a river of contemplation. Our joy and our spirit are all there is in the world in this place Jones is creating for us. There is no stress or anxiety to bother us, only a desire to conquer our own hearts so we can truly understand what love means; what the grand prize of life is. “Warm” adds a dose of rhythm to Not Your Typical Day Out that definitely feels danceable, and its swagger is almost along the lines of a mid-period Beatles track. It might be the most interesting song on the album in that it truly exemplifies Jiggley Jones’ incredible versatility as a composer.

"Gray” follows in a mist of grungy dissonance and ponders whether or not love can grow in a place where a heart has grown cold. “Flow” and “Restless” pick us back up in a blast of rock n’ roll twang, as though Jones needed to make a point towards the close of the album that above all, he worships the six-string. We end on the gentle “Rain,” which acts as a sort of cool down to the poetic and compositional calisthenics we’ve just participated in. As an artist, Jiggley Jones poses a lot of compelling questions on Not Your Typical Day Out. As listeners, we’re left with just one – when can we get more, Mr. Jiggley Jones


Gwen Waggoner

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