Andrew Jackson Jihad - Christmas Island

With Christmas Island, Andrew Jackson Jihad comes through with what's essentially their pop album. While the band brings plenty of concise tracks with straightforward instrumentation, they mostly lack the emotional impact of previous material--the instrumental finesse, too.

Andrew Jackson Jihad - "Linda Ronstadt"

Andrew Jackson Jihad comes through with an amazing new track from their forthcoming album, Christmas Island. Frontman Sean Bonnette goes through a personal story about being moved to tears by a piece of modern art--specifically, a video installation of Linda Ronstadt. Apparently, it was really beautiful. I only wish he worked the address of the museum in the song.

It's personal, but monstrous emotional moments like these that make for the best Andrew Jackson Jihad songs, and I'm pretty happy to hear that the band is keeping their ambitions high from a production standpoint. Just like with their last record, Knife Man, this track is graced with some beautiful keys and strings, bringing some nice dynamics to the table.

Look out for Christmas Island on Side One Dummy in May.

Andrew Jackson Jihad- "Fucc The Devil" (Nervous Energies Session)

Andrew Jackson Jihad doing a session performance with Nervous Energies. In this video, the duo is performing a track from is latest album, Knife Man. The track is "Fucc The Devil." Check my review of AJJ's latest album here.

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Andrew Jackson Jihad- Knife Man

With an almost unmeasurable poetic bitterness, Andrew Jackson Jihad are as sharp as ever on their new album, Knife Man. As usual, the music here is about the lyrics. The chord progressions are familiar copies of folk songs and punk tunes. Hell, some of the songs even sound similar to tracks from the band's previous album. Still, the lyrics here throw me into fits of laughter and depression. These tracks make me swing back and forth like an emotional pendulum. That's the show of a great Andrew Jackson Jihad album. Well, to me, anyway.

WATCH THE REVIEW

Andrew Jackson Jihad- "Hate, Rain On Me"

For folk punk fans, Andrew Jackson Jihad probably needs no introduction. The Arizona duo has owned the scene ever since their 2005 debut Candy Cigarettes & Cap-Guns established them as a hard-working and talented band with a knack for catchy melodies, simple chord progressions, and lyrics that were simultaneously hilarious and harrowing. Well, six years and two full-length records later, the band hasn't changed much in those respects. Their new record Knife Man comes out on September 20th--September 6th for those who pre-ordered it--and features the same spirit that made earlier releases great, conveyed through a slightly different musical lens.

The first track to be released from Knife Man is "Hate, Rain On Me", which premiered on the Alternative Press website back in July. Lyrically, the Who-referencing track is classic Andrew Jackson Jihad, with startlingly commanding words like the opening lines: "I wish I had a bullet big enough to fucking kill the sun / I'm sick of songs about the summer, and I hate everyone." Musically, however, the track exhibits a significant departure for the band. Here, they abandon their folk instrumentation entirely, plug their electric guitars in, and produce a storming punk rock song complete with charging bass, and multiple electric guitar leads. It's a style that they've been moving toward since 2009's Can't Maintain, and it's executed beautifully on this track.

As previously mentioned, Knife Man is out September 20th on Asian Man Records. It can be pre-ordered here.