Andrew Jackson Jihad

Keep On Chooglin’ [7-inch] (2014)

Ricky Frankel

Side One Dummy put out a few special edition 7-inchers for Fest 13 this year and one of them was Andrew Jackson Jihad’s latest release, Keep On Chooglin’.

On the A-side is the title track, which compared to the overall sound of their latest full length Christmas Island, is a much more traditional Andrew Jackson Jihad song. Sean’s voice throughout it has that sort of high pitch, nervousness to it that he is known for. “Keep On Chooglin’” is also much more of traditional Andrew Jackson Jihad song because the instrumentation is simpler. The acoustic guitar is the center of it, while drums, piano, bass, and some faint mandolin back it up and compliment it quite well. The song is also filled with funny and random non sequiturs that Andrew Jackson Jihad typically have in their lyrics like “The grandson of a ghost is singing me to tell a song” (and yes, I double checked that is the order of the words) and lyrics of shame and self loathing like “Every day I try to do things that feel alright/And no matter what I feel like a bastard deep inside.” It’s a very fun song that Andrew Jackson Jihad fans will definitely enjoy.

The B-side of this EP has an alternative version of “Getting Naked, Playing with Guns,” a song off of Christmas Island, called “Getting Naked, Playing With Guns (Smooth Jazz Remix).” Compared to the original song, not a whole lot has changed. The tempo has been sped up a little, the guitar chords are plucked instead of strummed, and the band added some ominous-sounding piano to certain parts. It’s a much calmer take on the song, but other than those changes again, it isn’t a whole lot different.

Note to my fellow vinyl nerds:
500 copies of these EP’s were pressed in blue vinyl and another 500 were pressed in pink vinyl.