Jakartah
In the Nervous Light of Coincidence (2008)
Brian Shultz
Not too long after Jakartah sent me their most recent full-length release, In the Nervous Light of Coincidence, for review, they decided to call it quits. Dang. Coincidence was seemingly released to little notice in 2008, and that's quite a bummer in itself, as fans of '90s post-hardcore would definitely dig this.
The Vancouver act recalls signifiers like Jawbox, Drive Like Jehu and the more tempered Unwound stuff. Their vocals being a sort of restrained shout with a touch of reverb on them, it's a good establishing front for back-and-forth but rigid guitar work, like the lumbering guitars of "Liaisons at the Woodward Building." The bass stands out with some more distinct lines in "Rosa Linda Drank Anxiety" and the drifting measures of "A Thousand Miles Connects You to Me," but the most powerful rhythm that comes is the compelling groove that pervades closer "Tomorrow's on an Antique Wall."
Granted, this album has a linear path that's almost too so. The dynamics aren't pronounced to their full abilities, but the band do excel in drumming up grizzly, rugged stop-starts and heavy, angular turns in cuts like "A Dire and Ever Circling Ghost" and "Hawaii Burns at Sunrise"--although, really, the band utilizes this method in just about every track.
Some of the band's members have since moved onto a newer project where they say it progresses past the standard post-hardcore template. They've already done a hell of a job with this subgenre, so you've gotta think whatever's next will tackle another style quite well and be worth looking into.