I don\u2019t like the word \u201cepic\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s worn and pedestrian and often misused in much the way \u201cincredible\u201d and \u201cawesome\u201d are. But it\u2019s wrong to blame the words. People\u2019s inability to use them correctly neuters them in times when it\u2019s the exact word needed to convey the properties of a particular item.<\/p>\n
So this is my problem: Epic is the word to describe Hands of Time, the latest release by Los Angeles\u2019 The Janks, but I fear using it makes me the boy who cried wolf. \u201cEpic,\u201d I can hear you say, \u201chow many times have I heard that before? Is it awesome too?\u201d<\/p>\n
Let me explain. Epics are long and grand and adventurous, primed to elicit certain glories of the past. Checking in at 14 songs in 53 minutes (long), Hands of Time evokes Queen, Steely Dan, Radiohead and The Veils (grand, past) while employing elements of Americana, classic rock, reggae and blues (adventurous). It\u2019s unlike any musical stew I\u2019ve ever heard and I\u2019m not sure what I think \u2014except I\u2019m constantly intrigued listen after listen.<\/p>\n
It was a hard sell at first, as the opening \u201cHands of Time\u201d is cliche in the worst \u201970s way, with an interplay of acoustic guitar and strings which borders on comical. There\u2019s a point where sounds like interlude music between circus acts.<\/p>\n
But the tracks quickly become sturdier and rhythmic \u2013 the haunting \u201cBilly The Kid\u201d and it\u2019s perfectly placed slide guitar, the well-paced \u201cDead Man\u201d and it\u2019s Lynyrd Skynyrd choruses (weird but enchanting). Complete surprise.<\/p>\n
The middle three songs \u2013 \u201cRat Racers,\u201d \u201cSeparation From Your Body\u201d and \u201cDemon Dance\u201d \u2013 show The Janks\u2019 staking a claim of pure ingenuity. \u201cRat Racers\u201d has it all \u2013 churning reggae beats, frantic guitar solos, and a Who-like grandness in lyrics and stature. \u201cSeparation From Your Body\u201d does it\u2019s best Steely Dan impersonation without becoming ordinary (singer Zack Zmed even comes off a little like Donald Fagen), while \u201cDemon Dance\u201d is driving and modern, capturing a sound Jack White made into a staple. It\u2019s 15 minutes of music which never becomes rote.<\/p>\n
I would say the band could use some editing \u2013 \u201cDrama King\u2019s Ball\u201d is tedious while \u201cWhen I Was A Kid\u201d and \u201cGet Outta Town\u201d mirror one another too closely \u2013 but I somehow wonder if editing would take away from the lavish production of it all. It\u2019s what makes make the album so epic.<\/p>\n
Which is awesome. Totally awesome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I don\u2019t like the word \u201cepic\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s worn and pedestrian and often misused in much the way \u201cincredible\u201d and \u201cawesome\u201d are. But it\u2019s wrong to blame the words. People\u2019s inability to use them correctly neuters them in times when it\u2019s the exact word needed to convey the properties of a particular item. So this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[363,362],"class_list":["post-1295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-hands-of-time","tag-the-janks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1295"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1297,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions\/1297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}