To be honest, it took me a few minutes to truly get into the type of music that Jaks played. By the time that the track “Damn Bloodsucker” started up, I knew that I would be a fan of their dance-noise style. The ever-present bass lines (which provide a groove all their own) and the Primus-like arrangement of “Dumbwaiter” show a band that liked to experiment with the boundaries of time signatures but still had their listener’s interests in mind. Jaks might have been the only band to care about this, as more and more noise bands choose to ignore their listeners and create music that just cannot connect with its listeners on any level.
Another major derivation from the traditional noise attitude seems to be with the duration of Jaks’ tracks; a majority of those present actually are in the two or three-minute range, which really allows an individual to get into a positive funk during the crazy sounds of a track like “Black Paper”. “Black Paper” has every facet of the band – guitar, vocals, bass and drums hitting on practically every beat, with each instrument following a different time. What follows is a dissonant yet intelligent sound that continues the premise of experimentality without exclusivity that many technical hardcore and noise bands just cannot seem to follow. The chaos that is present at all times during the disc is skillfully maintained by the band, so when a track like “Spitmudd” happens individuals can be wowed by the prowess of the band instead of the simple fact that the band can play their instruments fast. The use of tempo is perhaps Jaks’ strongest suit, as the aforementioned “Spitmudd” can go and have Jaks shred along like a good thrash band one section and use a careful, angular attack the next (a fact made even more interesting considering that Katrina’s vocals seem to fall much more in the early-eighties goth vein.
While I have bandied about the term noise a number of times during the review, it really is an imperfect fit considering that Jaks is a band that defies convention. There may be moments of noise during the disc, but there are equally moments of goth, metal, and punk all vying for dominance. The maintenance of some sort of balance throughout the entirety of this disc shows a maturity from this band that far outstrips the fact that the music is over a decade old.
Top Tracks: Spitmudd, Cavity
Rating: 7.8/10
Jaks – Here Lies The Body Of Jaks / 2005 Three One G / 17 Tracks / http://www.threeoneg.com / Reviewed 04 July 2005