Perth's Jebediah snuck in under the pop-culture radar. They went from provincial obscurity to double-platinum fame with an endless string of mosh-friendly shows and a love affair with Recovery, where their dyed hair, baggy pants and youthful insouciance perfectly reflected the post-grunge een audience. Of Someday Shambles their second album, is where the growing up starts. Maturity, both musically and emotionally, has caught up with the Perth quartet, however gently they've embraced it.
Not that fan's of 1997's Slightly Odway will be disappointed. "Did You Really" opens the album with a blitzing dose of punk-pop, equal measure agitation and the Brit-bot inflections of vocalist Kevin Mitchell. Clearly, American producer Mark Trombino (Rocket from the Crypt) has sharpened up the Jebediah sound. This is particularly the case on "Star Machine" and the catchy "Trapdoor", where he dishes up a welter of gleaming fuzz guitars from Mitchell and Chris Daymond while bassist Vanessa Thornton and drummer Brett Mitchell keep it succunct enough that the song's finished just as you start to appreciate its charms. Against this there's the tripped-out implosions and semi-acoustic sprawl of "Please Leave", where Mitchell calls in the istrumental break with a softly spoken "guitars". As a lyricist he writes about being young and confused, where everything swings back and forth. On the winsome "Love at Last" he sings of "a new beginning", by "In Orbit" he's hurt and in pain. The tone is vague but endeaing, and they've pulled out a pedal-steel-powered ballad of sorts with the tune "Happier Sad".
Of Someday Shambles gets more adventurous the longer it runs. "Skin" has a heightened sense of emotion and atmosphere, while finding a variation on the band's favourite soft/loud dynamic. The baroque and roll of "Run of the Company" - complete with strings and horns - closes an assured album. Jebediah have progressed enough to avoid stasis but not alienate fans. It's a pain free way to leave home.
3.5 stars.
- Craig Mathieson