Get Bent / Jean Claude Jam Band

Split [7 inch] (2008)

Brian Shultz

Get Bent get another notch in their still-tiny discography belt with this nifty little split 7" with Jean Claude Jam Band. Same for JCJB too, since all they have is a split with the Serious Geniuses and a demo themselves.

Demo 2008 had a fun, undeniably Latterman-esque feel -- the type of pop-punk New York City / Long Island and Gainesville go apeshit for and the rest of the country try to set up scenes of themselves. Get Bent's "Face Mush" is a logical continuation of that ethos, with rambled, super fun vocals and a great gruff bark dynamic from another member towards the end. If you liked the demo, you'll like this. It's just a little more riffy in the beginning, maybe. Despite the defeatist lyrics ("I'll try as hard as I can and hope for the best / Sometimes it feels like you do the best that you can / (You try and try and try) but no one really wins in the end"), you barely notice the contrast.

For some reason, I could hear Jean Claude Jam Band based just off their name. "Say No" is that down-home, feel-good, Americana-tinged mid-tempo punk that sounds like the Replacements, on a porch, with a cold one -- with lyrics that read seriously Springsteen-esque to me. I know punk rock can't get through one review lately without a mention of The Boss, but c'mon, look at these opening lines: "Pale girls in the summer heat / couldn't pay 'em to look at me." Are you really gonna sit there and deny it? I'd hope not. This song is pretty old, considering (recorded in summer 2006), but it sounds fresh enough to me.

(Very) short but (pretty) sweet.