35年以上のキャリアを誇りながら、その瑞々しいメロディは健在!
95年発表の「Tomorrow The Green Grass」が名作の誉れ高いオルタナ・カントリー～カントリー・ロックの雄ジェイホークスの2年振りとなる新作。残念ながら、マーク・オールソンはいませんが、ゲイリー・ルーリス、マーク・パールマンの初期メンバーを中心に4人全員が曲作りに参加。そして、これが'00年以降の彼らの最高傑作!とバンザイしたくなるような好内容。哀愁味溢れる(1)、ちょいパワーポップ風味のあるジャングリーな(2)、キンクスにも通じる人懐っこいメランコリックさのある(3)などバラエティに富みつつもハズレ曲なしの大満足盤。オススメです。
(C)吉祥寺店:狩野 卓永

タワーレコード （2020/07/24）

Gary Louris has never been the only songwriter or vocalist in the Jayhawks. He shared those duties with Marc Olson in their early years (and on their twin classics, 1992s Hollywood Town Hall and 1995s Tomorrow the Green Grass), and even after he became the groups sole leader with 1997s Sound of Lies, he was hardly the only voice in the band. Still, it would be a bit silly to suggest Louris hasnt been the dominant figure in the Jayhawks since Olson left; nor would it be unreasonable to say his talented bandmates were often playing second fiddle to him. 2020s XOXO is a bold effort to change that. For the first time in the groups history, all four members of the Jayhawks (Louris on guitar, Marc Perlman on bass, Karen Grotberg on keyboards, Tim OReagan on drums) contributed to the project as songwriters and lead vocalists. For the most part, this doesnt make for a radically different Jayhawks album. This Forgotten Town sounds exactly the way youd expect it to with that title from this band. The sweet ache of Grotbergs melodies and voice on Ruby and Across My Field is a perfect fit for the Jayhawks, and Perlmans Down to the Farm is effective in its stark, moody simplicity. But XOXO does out Tim OReagan as the secret rock & roll animal of the group: theres a scrappy swagger to Dogtown Days and Society Pages thats part garage punk and part vintage glam, and hearing the Jayhawks kicking out these kinds of jams so convincingly is a pretty pleasant surprise. (Looking Up Your Number shows that OReagan is also capable of penning gentle acoustic numbers more closely reflecting the bands trademark sound.) If OReagans songs are the ones that push the Jayhawks envelope the furthest on XOXO, overall the album has the feel of a band willing to experiment, confident enough in the talents of the four members to allow them to toss ideas against the wall and take a chance on whatever happens to stick. Given that these musicians have been working together for the better part of 25 years, it should come as no surprise that XOXO still feels like a Jayhawks album, but while conventional wisdom in rock history tells us a band is running short on ideas when they start letting the drummer write more songs, in this case it means theyre coming up with new ideas that are working well, and thats welcome news. ~ Mark Deming

Rovi