I’m not sure if a band could do more to lower their odds of getting on herohill than the Brooklyn (by way of Florida) crew Justice of the Unicorns. I mean, we rarely post on US bands and with the amount of blogs covering the Brooklyn scene, bands in that borough already have better and more complete coverage than most health care plans, so the effort seems pointless.
Throw in the fact their name and album art look like something you’d see on the cover of a tattered, thrift store paperback or an epic 70′s rocker van, and I’m actually pretty shocked the email we got didn’t get delicately placed in our trash folder.
What made that email bubble to the top was its sender. Free from PR jargon and hyperbole, the three or four lines were a sincere, unsolicited introduction from talented (and criminally underrated) song writer, David Dondero, not the band itself. If an artist cares enough to try to help a band he or she believes in, the least we can do is listen. And that listen was as enjoyable and surprising as any I’ve had in the last few months.
Animals Will Be Stoned sounds simple; Russell Dungan’s narratives about pill popping teachers, love and rednecks (and the best god damn mention of Air Jordan’s in a song since Cube’s Gangsta Fairytale) are honest and free from overly precious word play and exaggerated emotions. These tales could stand alone, backed by only an acoustic, but when you spend time with the music you realize the lyrics are deep and piercing and the textures the band delivers really transforms JOTU into something special.
Folky, southern gems and straight ahead rockers grab your ear on first pass, but very few songs adhere to any standard recipe. There are surprising moments of pop bliss (just listen to the almost Badly Drawn Boy feel of “Blood on the Wings”) but the most enjoyable discovery is how they’re as much sci-fi trailer as they are trailer park. Space rock outros and intros help the songs take flight and lighten the grit and sadness. JOTU embrace the tradition of the South but lyrically Dungan refuses to turn a blind eye to the region’s faults. More importantly, even though JOTU’s sound seems more genuine than most you hear escaping from the apathetic, indie epicenter, the experimental nature shows the band is willing to push the definitions of their influences.
Essentially, JOTU is a collection of well executed contradictions. All you have to do is take the time to enjoy them.
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MP3:: Justice of the Unicorns
WEB:: http://www.justiceoftheunicorns.com