Seattle Subsonic

*New* Video From Jaguar Love - “Highways of Gold”

August 1st, 2008

Seattle (or, actually, maybe Portland) band Jaguar Love has finished a new video for “Highways of Gold”, from their first album Take Me To The Sea on Matador. In my opinion, it’s not the best song on the record, but it IS high-fidelity, supposin’ you’re a fan of this band. I say ’supposin’ cuz A) I’m a back-country hillbilly and B) I’m pretty sure this band is creating some diverse opinions. I’ve heard people say it’s too grating (sometimes; though, what’d you expect from Johnny Whitney?), some people like Cody Votolato’s classic-rock riffage (me), others appreciate J Clark’s jazzy, cross-over drum skills (me). Only time will tell.

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I admit I wasn’t taken with the first few spins, but after hearing it on a few different levels (sober, inebriated and live), I’m more than warming up to it. There are a few hits (”Jaguar Pirates”, “Antoine & Birdskull”), a few misses (”Georgia”, “Bonetrees And A Broken Heart”), and enough weirdo moments to make you reconsider (”Humans Evolve Into Skyscrapers”, “Vagabond Ballroom”). Whitney might remind you of Alvin (yes, that Alvin) at times, but seeing him rock the stage is enough entertainment to fill a boat and take me to the sea. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

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The video is quirky and cartoonish, has a nice lovelorn feel to it, and features a few local musicians of note (Steve Snere from These Arms Are Snakes and Andrea Zollo from Pretty Girls Make Graves and Triumph of Lethargy…). The band is currently touring with the Faint on their Fasciination tour (the Seattle date was cancelled—boooooo), but they’ll stop off at Redmond’s Old Fire House tomorrow night, August 2nd. They’ll play with Talbot Tagora, who have recently entered my ‘watch list’. So I’m watching them. YOU watch out for the kiddies at the show.

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