With their phenomenal sophomore LP, Kept, Stolen Jars established themselves with one of the more distinctive sounds we'd come across in 2015. Their follow-up, glint, is a similarly unique EP, comprised of five tracks that explore "themes of loss and renewal ... finding hints of memory in the present and trying to keep sight of them just long enough to let them go." On top of all that, it's a video album, each song accompanied by evocative visuals.
The fifth and final video, "Gone Away" (directed by Marissa Goldman), is a vignette from the end of a marriage, depicting the moments when familiar places become abruptly foreign in the wake of emotional upheaval. Against the backdrop of a somewhat fantastical apartment (made even more so by liberal use of green screen), we watch as a woman suddenly grows too big to fit in her living room. Stolen Jars' signature percussion and gorgeous male-female duet scores the scene, which concludes with our protagonist calling to tell her boss she's going to be late for work—presumably admitting for the first time that she needs to grapple with her loss.
"Gone Away" is brief, but nonetheless powerful. Like the rest of glint, it's a story of pain and the hope that springs from its depths. In that vein, 25% of all sales of the EP will benefit the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a legal aid organization that "works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination or violence." So if it resonates with you as much as it did with us, we highly recommend picking up a copy.
Ever since I moved to New York, CMJ has seemed pretty overwhelming. Mostly, it's because I get a little paralyzed by having to choose between so many great options. I spend hours trying to decide who I should go see, mapping out routes from one venue to another, desperately trying to figure out if there's some way I can make it to every act. By the end of the festival I've almost certainly had a great time, but there are usually a few regrettable missed opportunities that slipped through the cracks.
Adding to the frustration is the fact that I usually try to do some sort of coverage of all the shows I see, which gets increasingly difficult after I've made it through my first round or seven of beer.
This year I decided to change it up. One show for the blog. That's it. And if there was one show at CMJ that had more acts I wanted to see than any other, it was the Terrible Records X Cymbal X Pigeons & Planes showcase at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn. I gave our wonderful photographer Brandon Bakus one simple task: take beautiful pictures. I'd say he did a good job.
It seems like good, old-fashioned chamber pop (i.e., circa 2006) is in relatively short supply these days. That's fine, especially considering that it might've been one of the more overdone genres to blow up in the early-2000s indie scene, but I've been a little sad to see it go nonetheless. I think I'll always have a soft spot for the acoustic guitars, bowed strings, and overly-earnest lyrics of bands like Sea Wolf and Ra Ra Riot (the latter of whom, somewhat inexplicably and abruptly, went full-'80s retro synthpop on their last LP).
That's why, in a scene that's currently dominated by electronic music and bizarre, experimental psychedelia—don't get me wrong, I love it—I'm always happy to see new groups revisiting the style with a contemporary ear. New Jersey six-piece Stolen Jars (it seems to be a rule that you can't do chamber pop with fewer than five people) are the latest to tug at my nostalgic heartstrings with their gorgeous, artfully-crafted album Kept.
There's a really excellent pacing and flow to the record, which transitions seamlessly from playful, Belle and Sebastian-esque songs like "Another November" to somewhat mournful tracks like "Glow." Though the vocals alternate between Molly Grund's cutesy anecdotes and Cody Fitzgerald's heartfelt pleas (which sound a lot like Justin Vernon in some parts), the sound remains remarkably consistent.
The key, I think, is Stolen Jars' unmistakable percussion. Throughout every song runs a thread of snare-rim clicks and clacks, which gives the whole thing an organic, almost woodsy atmosphere. But more than that, it keeps things upbeat on tracks that might otherwise be a bit too morose for their own good, and along with some well-placed handclaps drives the album to be more energetic than a lot of its contemporaries.
I think it would be redundant at this point to say that I'm really, really enjoying Kept. My only complaint is that it feels a little short (some might say extremely short for an LP, coming in at just 37 minutes), but I think that works in the band's favor. Any longer and it might run the risk of becoming monotonous. As it stands, though, Stolen Jars' sophomore effort is a truly cohesive record, and one I'd recommend to those who fell in love with indie music ten or fifteen years ago.
Scratch that, actually. I'd recommend it to anyone.
