Jump on Cars - Kids Got Mad Heart EP
(self-released)
Emo, it's a term that, for many, evokes images of cardigan sweaters, all ages shows, horn-rimmed glasses, bad haircuts, yearning, thrift store finds, tight t-shirts, peacoats, Converse All Star sneakers, gas station jackets, short pants, high school poetry, crying, moping, corduroy, argyle, wool, accessories, etceteras. Jump on Cars, perhaps the quintessential emo band? Perhaps. Perhaps not! As a recovering emo kid, myself, I know the salty lure of the genre. I mean, come on... nerds are heroes and jocks are out of the loop. It's high school in reverse, man! This is a style and "scene" that turns skinny, gangly, literate (sometimes overly so) kids into heroes. If you were a "loser" when you were in school, there's a good chance you have either: a) dug emo music, b) liked a certain band with that "emo" sound, or c) played in a band like this yourself. Ask Ryan Mercer (hey! he has the same last name as the singer for the Shins! Instant cred!), lead guy for the best band from my hometown, and he would probably agree.
Now, for all of you fakejazz readers out there, let me explain something. I'm from an emo/punk/hardcore-centric town, and most of the bands here are terribly bad, boring, and unoriginal. Enter Jump on Cars. Their debut EP, Kids Got Mad Heart, has all of the trapping of a bad emotional act in the layout (the title, a winter scene for a cover, and song titles like "Christmas Ends"). But once the music is played, you'll forget all about the clichés of the layout--and, let's be fair, the entire genre.
This isn't to say that Jump on Cars is the most original act. They aren't. The first song ("Aberdeen, Wa?") recalls the best moments of the Jazz June, while the middle three are Weakerthans/Promise Ring ballads. The last song is like the bastard child of early Apples in Stereo and late Promise Ring. For those of you who've lasted through those name checks and aren't cringing right now: Kids Got Mad Heart is for you.
The biggest problem of this EP is the fact that so many of the song ideas have either been underdeveloped or given the wrong treatment. Take, for example, "Sleepwalker". What could have been a tasty little folky acoustic number is given electric treatment, thereby ruining what could have been an appealingly personal and/or intimate track. "Jack Frost"--the "hit single" that all of the Jump on Cars fans can't get enough of--is three chords, quite pretty, but not very complicated. The only time the tempo changes from an average pace is when the chorus breaks in, with Ryan singing: "Slap me on the back, you know I really need it/I could always stand to be the kid who feels that I'll do anything you want me to." The lyrics are good, but, again, this is standard emo music.
But I like Jump on Cars. They have a pleasing sound, they're fun but also melancholy, and they're all pretty cool guys. Word is that Ryan is coming out with a solo record sometime in the winter under the name BoyWonder--hopefully this proves to flesh out and complete the ideas posed on the incomplete songs. For now, I'm digging this little EP.
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