Jotto - Good Friend Electric (self released)
We at Girl About Town have an assignment for you today, for it's the release date of Jotto's new EP "Good Friend Electric". The band is offering the EP as a free download from their website (donations welcome), and this should be a priority on your To-Do list. The band crafted this EP - a body of six new songs - by recording, mixing, and producing it themselves, which is a formula that works well for them as they remain true to their unique aesthetic of art rock. Their debut CD (also self released) came out in late 2007, so it's been almost a year since we heard anything new, and we're pretty excited about these new tunes as they meet our own criteria for interesting art rock. We are also excited that Jotto has progressed past their No-Wave start to a more dark sophisticated sound incorporating a kind of deconstructed dance funk (which is hard to do with no bass).
The EP opens with the very haunting "Bang/Shoot/Shoot/Bang", channeling Gang of Four with the sparse beats that are overlayed with guitar spasms. Over this, the synth swells into a crescendo and then cuts out, the song ending abruptly. It's just two and a half minutes, which is the norm on this EP, but it's a compelling two minutes that leaves us hungry for more. Perhaps an extended remix should be in the works? The next song, "Against the Background", is more of the same, although the synth is more staccato rather than sweeping. The vocals add to the edgy mood, as they are uneasy and not spoken/sung in key, like a Beatnik poetry reading. This is most apparent in the next track, "Glad We Weren't There", and this is frontman Aaron Fisher's signature stamp. The only departure on the EP is track "Ugly", which sounds like it could be off of Lou Reed's "Transformer" with it's piano tinkling, spoken word story line, and slightly creepy vibe. The finale is "Gail's Electric Dream", a dreamy electronic music-scape which is a perfect song to bring you back down from the more heady stuff.
Overall Jotto has reached new ground here and we can't wait to start seeing these songs played out live. You can catch Jotto at their CD release party on November 15th at the reopened Connie's Ric Rac Room in South Philly. Joining Jotto on the bill is An American Chinese and In Grenada.
Track Listing:
01 Bang/Shoot/Shoot/Bang
02 Against The Background
03 Glad We Weren’t There
04 Fall 1998
05 Ugly
06 Gail’s Electric Dream’s
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