Review: I Will Die In This Jean Jacket’s “Hang From A Cloud”
Jim Blaha’s latest work is the product of three years of artistic isolation. The Blind Shake/Green/Blue guitarist/vocalist recently released his debut solo record as I Will Die In This Jean Jacket (though Blaha has also released solo albums as Jim and the French Vanilla). Hang From a Cloud is an expertly crafted collection of melancholy rock songs that takes a foundation of 60’s pop/garage and filters it through a lens of 80’s post-punk gloom. Hang is something that, had it been released 40 years ago would have fit comfortably between jangle pop pioneers The Clean (or fellow-jacket enthusiasts The Chills) and dark post-punk bands like New Order or Darklands-era Jesus and Mary Chain.Â
The record can be so toe-tappingly catchy at times it’s easy to overlook the preoccupation with death (evidenced in the name of the band, arguably the album title, as well as multiple songs). Songs like “So Nice,” which draws from 60’s psych/garage in a similar vein to White Fence, “Always Home,” which manages that sort of ‘upbeat-yet-also-sad’ vibe that The Cure mastered, and “D.O.A” with it’s irrepressible jangle-pop guitar chords, are all excellent. The whole album is just incredibly solid through and through, and a validation of Blaha as a veteran musician who has ultimately mastered his craft. Hang From A Cloud is easily in the top local albums this year, if not at the tippy top. Purchase it now via Swami Records.Â
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