Long Beach newcomer Fort Jams sees a debut 7″ released from new label Plastic Jurassic (run by our boys Francisco The Man). The two tracks meander effortlessly through affecting indie-rock and Beatley bedroom pop, with multi-instrumentalist Joel Bond at the helm. Here’s my favorite:
Sounding a bit like the late great Elliott Smith, whose death happened just a little less than ten years ago now, Bond shines through similarly unnerving vocal melodies, the sort that Smith played with so well, stretching his voice to strange and often unexpected places. As a soloist Bond is in full control, evident in his inventive percussion and the open structure of the song. He pulls elements in and out with the confidence of a master composer, or at the very least akin to his fellow tinkering contemporaries like Youth Lagoon, Young Man and Yellow Ostrich (y-based alliteration unintentional).
Looking forward to great things from this kid. Hear another track at his Soundcloud page »
The “Jacket Inside” 7″ is out now and limited to 100 copies on white virgin vinyl. Buy yours before they’re gone »
