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The January Taxi
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Keep Quiet, They Might Hear Us
Vacant Cage Records
Release: 3/30/2004
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Rated:
Review by:
Jason Warner
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Keep Quiet, They Might Hear Us is the latest
album from The January Taxi, an up and coming rock outfit
out of Glendale, AZ. I don't know what it is about Arizona,
but there seems to be a definite sound coming out of that
part of the world. The sound of Jimmy Eat World comes to
mind. Maybe it is prejudice, maybe it is truthfulness, I don't
know. The January Taxi is not breaking new ground with
this release, but is not simply rehashing the past either. I
would say they sound like a cross between Blue
Album era Weezer and The Jealous Sound, with a
twist of Blink 182.
The album opens with "The Ashtray Parade," a song with a
great melody and contagious hooks, albeit some rather
simpleton lyrical content. This simplistic approach is
balanced out later on the closing track, "Threading the
Needle," where singer Joshua Taylor actually uses the word
"Antediluvian" in a rock and roll song. The music is basic
power pop, with more of an emphasis on power than pop,
although pop sensitivity is evident, and even flaunted at
times, like the slowed down, almost ska-flavored section in
"Girls With 6 Strings." But, for the most part the music is
straight ahead rock with not many surprises. The deviation
from this formula, and where Keep Quiet, They Might
Hear Us shines the most is on the track, "Jome," the
longest track on the album and also the most interesting.
Here The January Taxi stretches their legs a little bit and
actually make a musical statement. It would have been nice
if the band had done a little more of this stretching out on
the rest of the album. I felt like most of the songs were
over before I even had a chance to get into them. I have
listened to the album numerous times now and still feel that
most of the songs adhere too much to the radio ready rock
formula of the three minute pop song, everything all neat
and orderly, to the point, and over just as quickly as they
began. The music is good, but Keep Quiet, They Might
Hear Us is not playing all the cards on the table. I
would like to see this band live to see if they stick to this pop
formula or if they experiment a little more in a live situation.
I'm not saying they've done anything wrong with the length
of the songs, just that I like the atmosphere of the
experimentation on "Jome" and would like to have heard
that same dynamic in a couple of the other tracks.
The melodies throughout the album are pleasing, as are the
harmony vocals. The vocals in general are strong. The
guitar parts are well thought out, with solid bass and drums,
and an overall good production quality that makes The
January Taxi sound like they really are ready for major
radio station airplay. Hopefully a lot more people will be
hearing The January Taxi in the near future as the band's
label, Vacant Cage Records, has reportedly just inked a
distro deal with Red Eye Distribution. Red Eye and Vacant
Cage are making plans now for a national re-release of
Keep Quiet, They Might Hear Us, which will
include a newly recorded track, "Hellos," as well as a video
for "The Ashtray Parade."
With a solid album like Keep Quiet, They Might Hear
Us, The January Taxi just may be going somewhere,
and luckily for you, they are covering the cab fare. |
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