Andrew Jackson Jihad

We also sell a pretty sweet ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD shirt... look in the SHIRTS section. (like shirts as a band.... in the side bar).

I met AJJ for real at a house show in AZ. It was on GHOST MICE and MATTY POP CHART tour. They showed up late, they played and the room swelled with their friends singing along and Sean kept looking everyone in the eyes and as they played and sang their darker brand of folk punk, I felt that little tingle up my spine... up my neck... into my head...into my eyes. I knew we were friends then.

"Oh rejoice, the bed you sleep in is burning
Oh rejoice, the sky's fucking falling
Oh rejoice, the world we know is turning
Oh rejoice, your father's been calling
Rejoice although this world will devastate you
Rejoice although this world will penetrate you
Rejoice although you will not survive
Rejoice although you'll never make it out alive"

A REVIEW I FOUND ONLINE.
Folk-punk! If there is one trend that has emerged over the last few years that probably surprised all those living outside of Bloomington, Indiana, it would be folk-punk. Yeah, the words were used to describe Billy Bragg almost three decades ago, but after the movement of punk rock over the years since, who would have imagined that by 2007 it seems every kid with a blue mohawk and a Clash patch on their jacket would be picking up an acoustic guitar (maybe I am exaggerating a bit). I must admit though, I have been a sucker for this trend, and am hoping that it will not just be a trend, but an overall expansion of what it is to be considered "punk".


A REVIEW OF THEIR FULL LENGTH (on Asian Man)
In case you haven't already figured it out by reading their name, Andrew Jackson Jihad are a very strange band.

You see, like many bands in the folk-punk world, the Phoenix trio are not out to seek the approval of the mainstream. This allows them to do whatever the fuck they want, such as throw lyrics such as "I have often wondered if a pregnant woman is decapitated, will the baby survive?" into their songs. On most albums, this line might seem like the most random of curveballs, but on the band's second full length, People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World, it feels right at home.

In fact, of all the qualities that make People one of the most noticeable releases of this year, the lyrics are likely the most significant. The perspectives brought up in the lyrics by singer/guitarist Sean-Claude Bonnette are a mix of scathing social critique and pessimism towards the human race, somehow blended together with a youthful simpleness. On "Brave as a Noun," he takes a shot at the cultural status quo, singing "I could follow those stylish trends / But I've got an angry heart filled with cancers and poppy tarts / If this is how you folks make art, its fucking depressing." And on "People II: The Reckoning" he sneers, "There's a rapist and a Nazi living in our tiny hearts / Child pornographers and cannibals and politicians too / There's someone in your head waiting to fucking strangle you." Your chances of finding a point of view as twisted and unique as this on any other release this year are slim to none.

Bizarre lyrics aside, the songs on the album flow as a program rather nicely. Most of them fit into the basic folk-punk formula, staying under three minutes in length and featuring blisteringly fast tempos. However, the few exceptions to this ("A Song Dedicated to the Memory of Stormy the Rabbit," "People II: The Reckoning") slow the pace down significantly and allow for a type of ballad-like thoughtfulness, giving the disc enough variety to stay interesting throughout its tenure. The abundance of non-traditional instruments also enhances the replay value, with songs featuring horn sections, glockenspiels, and in the vein of Neutral Milk Hotel, singing saws.

The album may have its drawbacks (many of the songs have already been released on splits, and it totals at only twenty-five minutes), but with those aside, there's not a song on the record that isn't listenable. With People under their belt, Andrew Jackson Jihad have displayed an uncanny ability to produce experimental folk-punk while keeping the music accessible enough to satisfy a wide range of listeners. Fans of Ghost Mice, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb and good songwriting in general should not miss this release.


A REVIEW I FOUND ONLINE (a kinda bad review)
Andrew Jackson Jihad has been described as acoustic folk punk. I love folk punk, folk, acoustic stuff so I decided to check out the band and see how they fair with other bands. If I was reviewing just the first song, I'd probably wouldn't even review this album but I decided to press on. The singer's voice is so annoying in that first song and the other members instrument playing is very cluttered. I guess the same thing can be said for the whole album but the rest of the songs aren't as bad. The singer's voice sounds like Colin Meloy of the Decemberists and Tom of Against Me...but if they had a cold. The production of the album is poor and I wouldn't be surprised if it was recorded in a bathroom. I think this band would be fun to see live but other than that, I wouldn't want to bother with them. -readjunk.com review.