AJJ’s first 4 albums felt like cynically twisted communal folk songs driven by the singer’s (Sean Bonnette) sobering worldview and personal stories. The band’s musical arrangements and chord progressions have never been inventive (in fact they knowingly rip off both Woody Guthrie as well as Simon and Garfunkel), but Sean’s distinctive weak nasally voice and manic depressive lyrics defined AJJ as the stand out amongst the ever growing crowd of folk punk bands.
With their 2014 album, Christmas Island, the band started their unfortunate trend of writing lo-fi rock music played over a series of incoherent and grotesque one liners. Because Sean’s vocals and lyrics failed to grab my attention like their older material still does, the listener’s attention drifts towards the incredibly standard and particularly uninteresting rock instrumentation.
Their new album, The Bible 2, continues most of their regrettable trends, but it is a step above Christmas Island. Rock dominates this album, sprinkled in are a few acoustic pieces to balance the pace as well as appeal to their roots. At best, this back and forth between high energy lo-fi rock tunes and sappier folk ballads reminds me of their incredible 2011 album, Knife Man. Quite often though, when the individual songs aren’t up to par (particularly the last quarter of the album) the two styles feel disjointed. The best songs on The Bible 2, like “Cody’s theme”, and “Goodbye, oh Goodbye” are simple, fast paced lo-fi pop rock music, but they still lack the classic AJJ personality that comes from the lead singer Sean Bonnette.
The lyrics continue to be so seemingly random and #edgy on The Bible 2 that there is very little to grab onto and provide substance for repeated listens. Sean’s vocals now have some modulation, adding some weight to his previously weak vocals, which is necessary when writing a rock album, but it hides his quirks that made him interesting. Ultimately, Sean Bonnette is still manic and depressive but has lost his relatability due to increasingly abstract lyrics and vocal treatments.
Just before the release of this new album The Bible 2, AJJ changed their name from Andrew Jackson Jihad, a name they now find needlessly offensive. They say they have matured past the band name that they came up with as teenagers, but at the same time they are selling their album titled The Bible 2 for $6.66 on Bandcamp. WIth this album, the band is at a crossroads in their career, unable to fully commit to their new identity after transitioning from acoustic to electric guitars.
With their earlier works, AJJ had a cohesive viewpoint and ethos, but with The Bible 2. The band’s aggression and energy are aimless, in Sean Bonnette’s lyrics as well as the fuzzy lo-fi production. The album redemptively provides a handful of great singles in both of AJJ’s styles, serving as reminders that the band does still have musical potential, once they solidify their new identity and regain their personality.
Article By Taylor Kalsey
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