When Jets To Brazil first appeared in 1998, the group's pedigree (featuring ex-members of Jawbreaker and Texas is the Reason) quickly placed them among the elite of the then burgeoning emo scene. Although occasional criticism claimed that Orange Rhyming Dictionary, the band's first offering, was simply a fifth Jawbreaker record (as all the songs were penned by former Jawbreaker frontman Blake Schwarzenbach) or an overly obvious emulation of the Brit-pop offered by Blur and their fellows, the album stands as an exceptional testament of late '90s emotionally-driven, punk-influenced guitar rock. As such, the band's sophomore effort will likely receive a less-than-enthusiastic greeting from much of their following.
While the heart-on-the-sleeve honesty and clever lyrical twists that pervaded Orange Rhyming Dictionary are still abundant on Four Cornered Night, the music has become...pop?
As is seemingly the trend these days among the hip peddlers of the American indie scene (witness the band's label-mate The Promise Ring's latest, Very Emergency), JTB has nearly completely discarded the punk-inflected sound for which it was known. In its place, the band has installed slick songwriting and arrangements that one can imagine a younger, smirking version of JTB regarding.
"Was that a cello on 'In the Summer's When You Really Know?' Why does 'All Things Good and Nice' sound as if it were really a Ben Folds Five tune? Is this really a JTB record?"
Once these questions are disregarded a beautiful and complex album is discovered in Four Cornered Night. "When you say my name to me/ like some amusing piece of food stuck between your teeth/ then I will know it's completely over/ won't you say my name to me?" Schwarzenbach intones with all the force and feeling of anything on Orange Rhyming Dictionary.
Four Cornered Night is a pop record written by a group of former punk rockers. This being the case, it will probably find itself unfairly subjected to waves of criticism decrying JTB's predilections toward producing a more mainstream sound. If Four Cornered Night were the product of a group never in any way associated with punk it would simply be accepted for what it is--an extraordinary slice of pop.
--Brian Gettler