Profit

Before listening to The Jelly Jam’s new album, Profit, I had heard nothing of the group besides an announcement on Blabbermouth.net of an upcoming album by a supergroup consisting of bassist John Myung of Dream Theater and two other veterans of prog-rock bands I did not recognize. Their name, with its juvenile alliteration, evoked something along the lines of a CBeebies television programme for me and so I expected the worst—an album that sounds like a prog-themed episode of ZingZillas but with a flurry of in-your-face technicality. Yet, to my (pleasant) surprise, Profit has turned out to be one of the best rock albums of 2016 so far.

The album hearkens to a ‘90s alternative rock—the kind played by early The Smashing Pumpkins, Placebo or (in The Jelly Jam’s catchier choruses) The Foo Fighters—with a twist added in some blues-infused solos and jazzier tracks like “Permanent Hold”. Indeed, vocalist and guitar-player Ty Tabor shares with singers Billy Corgan and Brian Molko a soft-but-strong delivery and subtle nasal-tone that, like black coffee, is bitter but addictive.

Although the songs are generally shorter, vocally-oriented and filled with memorable hooks, drummer Rod Morgenstein gets it right in saying that they still have that “muso element” that will appeal to listeners with an intellectual appetite (Quoted from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4j6UdMDy58). One of these elements is the story which the lyrics narrate, about a prophet who journeys to save the world.

Myung’s performance on the album, like Morgenstein’s, is of the brilliantly understated variety. One of the highlights of the album is the bass-driven, blues-rock “Mr. Man”. The musicians may all be way over-qualified to play their parts, but one of the virtues of the album is their willingness to take the humble backseat for the sake of the song. Morgenstein’s simple beats on the captivating ballad “Fallen” are a prime example of this. The album is an immersive experience and needs to be listened to from start to finish as a single statement, but, in the end, the song that I keep coming back to (and that keeps coming back to me) is the opener “Care”.

Other gems include the grungy “Stain on the Sun” and “Stop”, the eclectic and hard-hitting “Water” and psychedelic closing-track “Strong Belief”.

For the announcement that started it all, see: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/the-jelly-jam-feat-dream-theater-kings-x-members-profit-album-due-in-may/