To quote Peter Sellers by way of Big Audio Dynamite (II), “The only important thing these days is rhythm and melody”. Jonathan Boulet puts the theory to the test on his début, solo album. There are, of course, many other harmonic and melodic instruments on the album, but the dominant factors, established firmly in the opening two tracks, ‘Continue Calling’ and ‘Ones Who Fly Twos Who Die’ are Boulet’s drums and vocal harmonies. The rhythms are layered and the voices even more so.
I was actually surprised at the overall acoustic feel of the album. Having seen him with his new band live a couple of times, I was expecting a much more electric mood. Add to this the fact that some of these tracks have been heard on his Myspace for over a year and these displayed a range of moods, stretching to completely abstract and electronic, and the initial joyful pop, acoustic guitars (where present) adding to the rhythm, was a surprise. But it’s only tracklisting that determines this mood and, indeed, as the final stanza of the album kicks in, those electronic pulses make their presence felt. The folklore of Boulet recording everything on his own in his suburban garage is well established. Much has been made of the quality of this production and, while it is definitely near the top end of what you’d expect from any studio situation, really, there’s still the handmade quirks, particularly in the hand percussion around the edges and the fact that the choirs of voices (aside from a couple of contributions of female counterpart from Rebecca Shave) are all recognisably Boulet’s own.
It is the pop qualities of the melodies that are the main event, however (pop in the classic sense of pure humability). The singalongs of the opening tracks melt into more introspective turns in ’10 Billion Years’. ‘Lay Off The Streets For A While’ is the track which sounds closest to Boulet’s other musical identity, that of being the drummer in Parades. The track has the same jerky rhythm and Radiohead song structure aesthetic, as well as some subtle vocal and instrument glitching. But the melodies, consistent across the album, are much more direct than Parades. ‘North To South East To You’ could pretty much be a Thom Yorke outtake with it’s bitcrushed synth hook, only here stuttering drum machines are replaced by handclaps and multiple drum layers. Lyrically, things switch from ironic nihilism (‘Lay Off The Streets For A While’) to joyful manifestos – “Come join us we don’t bite/We only dance and write/Don’t stop to think about/Whether you’re in or out” (‘Continue Calling’) or “We just wanna sing sing/We just wanna dance/Take over the whole world/Just give us a chance” (’3 2 1 Ready Or Not’). (Mention should be made here of some lax proofreading – “breath” should be “breathe” and it’s wrong in two different places in the lyric sheet!)
Everything, however, falls squarely in the shadow of the album’s last track. It is well sequenced to close the album – any earlier and anything after it would have no chance of survival. ‘A Community Service Announcement’ is possibly one of THE great pop songs, and I know that is a huge call, but it deserves to be heard by enough people to be recognised as such. Every single element is a perfect hook, from the rhythms, to the guitar riff, to every single verse, middle eight or chorus melody, any of which could serve as the main hook in any other song. Here they roll over each other in perfect symphony. 3 minutes in and it feels like one vocal hook has won out and solos its way to what sounds like it may be the crescendo, only for a split second gap followed by an all new, even more elated climax. The rest of the album shows great diversity and promise and signals an artist with immense pop smarts to watch. ‘A Community Service Announcement’ is a moment of pure perfection.
Adrian Elmer
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