JIP’s new album Thought This Was Over begins with Money & Candy, a single which immediately draws listeners in with assertrive guitars and drums. The guitar fuzz adds a bit of cushion upon which the Offspring-meets-Rise Against infused vocals can reside. Other nods are made here to Samhain-era Danzig, Offspring and Unwritten Law.
The swagger than begins Smile. Enjoy Yourself will immediately draw fans in, while the cohesive sound of the vocals and backing instrumentation during the track’s first minute ensures that listeners will be focused in before they are hit with a tremendously catchy chorus. How the Sausage was Made shifts things up for the band. This track has a more straightforward approach to it, with JIP taking in bits and pieces of Soul Asylum, early Goo Goo Dolls and even early-1980s power pop for inspiration. This mid-album track is our favorite on Thought This Was Over – everything is contributing to a track that will stick with one long after the song ceases to play.
The titular effort on Thought This Was Over incorporates some seriously heady guitar arrangements, pairing them with supersonic vocals. Together, these elements are able to create a groove that both adds to the overall corpus of the band while maintaining the cohesive sound that the band had cultivated previously on the disc. Oh Yay. Oh Yeah ties together a chugging guitar with some serious vocal swagger; the splashy drums poke through at all the right times. With the momentum remaining high through the album, Not As Sweet and Let’s Go act as the perfect way to gradually slow things down. The contemplative approach of JIP during Let’s Go showcases that act continues to innovate even as their release is spinning to a close.
Top Tracks: How the Sausage was Made, Thought This Was Over
Rating: 8.5/10
JIP – “Thought This Was Over” CD Review / 2023 Self Released / 14 Tracks / Domain / Facebook / Instagram /