Full Review: Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger

Jack’s Mannequin is the now several year old band of former Something Corporate singer Andrew McMahon. The chorus from the song “Hammers And Strings” says, “Give me something to believe in, a breath from the breathing, so write it down I don’t think I’ll close my eyes cause lately I’m not dreaming, so what’s the point in sleeping” and it grabs my attention every time. This collection of songs that make up ‘The Glass Passenger’ is that breath from the breathing, these songs are so alive and contain so much life which is part of what makes this record so good.

“The Resolution” has an “instant classic” feel to it. The chord progression is done in such a way as to remind you of huge stadium rock anthems you’ve heard on the radio for years. The song however, is different than the stuff of the previous album in that the piano shares the lead with guitars and some thick bass.

“Spinning”, “Swim”, and “American Love” are all solid tracks with “Swim” being the most memorable. The track is about hanging in and making it through whatever situation you don’t think that you can make it out of. In the end you need to just keep swimming.

So much of music is gut reactions and not trying to like something but simply liking it because it works on every level for you. There are a few tracks on the album such as “Crashing” and “Lullaby” that had me smiling and trying to sing along before they were even done playing on the first time through. Both of the songs mentioned are mid-tempo and have a melody that reminds me of something from Something Corporate. “Crashing” has a heavy piano led intro with a drum snare before jumping to a quicker paced chorus. “Lullaby” starts much slower on a reminiscent story about an old friend which creates the imagery as if Andrew is sitting on stage behind a piano in an abandoned venue just singing and playing to himself. The song is magical in it’s build up and overall journey it takes you on.

“Suicide Blonde” probably sticks out the most as just being okay and not much more. The biggest problem is the simple, repetitive chorus of “She’s a suicide blonde…” which is fine the first time but on the second and third time through leaves much to be desired.

“Bloodshot” is more subtle in its structure in that even the chorus sneaks up on you and you’re usually half way through it before realizing it. The intro and beginning verses of the song also tends to just rub the wrong way. It’s something about the darker musical tone that just doesn’t jive like the other tracks do. All that being said, the song does have a strong chorus melody.

Another thing that makes this different than the previous one is that this album is very polished and has lots of little touches that makes it feel full and complete. Back ground vocals from female voices, or other instruments filling in otherwise empty spots are things that appear throughout the record giving it a very mainstream feel.

The first half “Caves” is hauntingly slow and drawn out with Andrew stretching his voice in parts. The second half however, is a kick in the face with strong everything. The vocals, drums, piano and guitars create a rhythmic ending to the epic song and an equally epic album. ‘The Glass Passenger’ will, I think, for a long time be an album that defines Andrew McMahon’s career. Buy this album.

Tags: jacks mannequin, music, something corporate, the glass passenger

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 9:16 am and is filed under Full Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.