Sell The Heart Records – 17 Dec 2021
A five song EP that feels bigger than it is
Fires Forming is, first and foremost, bittersweet. A little backstory: the songs on the EP were originally planned to go on an LP. Recording in parts was curtailed by the pandemic, and a lot of things happened during quarantine leading to bassist/vocalist Bobby Edge decided to depart the band. A final hurrah in the studio and some rejigging lead to this transitional EP which is Edge's last.
It is also pretty fucking good. So… yeah. Bittersweet as the core group that created the songs is no longer there and I definitely want to hear more.
So what do we get for it? Five new tracks, all of which sound excellent. Lead track “Time to Fly” is one of two that weren't pre-release singles, and I can hear why. It's one of the Romantics' fast tempo, melodic punk bangers. The song doesn't beat around the bush, with the vocals joining in just seconds after the start. Part protest song, part acknowledgement of the hyper-partisan political reality of the United States (“This is our generation / Choosing sides when lines are drawn“), it's super fast and super powerful.
The pre-release single “Hey Nora”(which also had a BIG-themed music video) comes with a pounding beat and a built-in sing-along chorus that's too catchy for its own good. There's a bit of a breakdown that feels very early-Blink-182ish, and in a good way.
“Dine Fleisch” has a lot going on in it, and is likely the most aggressive song on the album. The composition and juxtaposition of the vocals, the quick changes… the “whoa-oh“s, and the chorus… Golly. I've always appreciated Mike Normann's percussion, and this song is a showcase to what this machine has under the hood. It's a dark an disturbing song, but when dark and disturbing songs are this exciting, well… you can't not like it.
“You Spin Me (Right Said Fred)” has a strange name, and is the second track song that we haven't heard yet. It's also the longest song on the album and, for all intents and purposes, likely the… mildest (I guess, if I had to use a word), tempo. It's probably the most experimental track on the album, and that may be a good or bad thing. Parts of it are super catchy (the “Go-oh Oh-oh-ohh” will be stuck in your head for days). The fault, if you choose to see it that way, is that there are several significant transitions in the style of the song, which tends to make it feel more like a Frankenstein's Monster of two, maybe three separate songs. Some my find it OK, but I found the increasing transitions to be a bit jarring, especially the final one in the last 15 seconds or so. If I had my way, this would be at least two separate tracks. Alas, this isn't Burger King.
Album closer “Castaway” also features stylistic transitions, but they feel more coherent as a single song than the previous. I'm not sure if this song was ever intended to be the final track of the originally planned LP, but it certainly feels like it should have. There is a lot to it and it brings the EP together into a solid crescendo of energy.
I'm sad to see that Bobby Edge has left The Jukebox Romantics, but if this release is the swan song for that era of the band, you couldn't really ask for more. Thanks they will continue on, and have added two new members making them a quintet. If the future songwriting stays up to par with what is on Fires Forming, then things are looking bright for The Jukebox Romantics.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He's lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
