JAWS – ‘The Ceiling’ (Self-Released)

By Rich Hobson

A lot has changed since JAWS released their debut ‘’Be Slowly’ in 2014. From the prevailing atmosphere of the scene at the time, to the very country around them, the world has moved in a big way in just five years, particularly as so many great bands in the UK have decided to call it a day in response to an increasingly hostile world (in so, so many ways). As such, one could take the lofty dream-pop that the band evoked on that debut and equate it with an idea of escape, of release from a sense of anxiety which seems to permeate almost everywhere else, particularly when each of the band’s early songs felt so sunshine-ready, set to get any party going.

Of course, the band themselves have also changed a lot since ‘Be Slowly’ – both in line-up, and in the decidedly more grounded tones that marked their second record ‘Simplicity’, their sound not necessarily getting harder, but thicker. With Gethin Pearson returning to the mixing desk for album #3 ‘The Ceiling,’ it’s not surprising that the more prominent low-end of Simplicity has been retained, but ‘The Ceiling’ goes some way to recapturing the lighter ambiance of their first release, coming closer to a party than the enforced chill-out of Simplicity and doing it in a way that seamlessly bridges both approaches.

The rattling drum-beat that signals ‘Driving at Night’ is likely to get the brain straight into Stone Roses mode (we’re a bassline away from ‘I Am The Resurrection’, after all), and from there the journey truly sets off, seeing JAWS go deeper and further than they have before. The pop sensibilities of ‘The Ceiling’ feel decidedly in keeping with the Birmingham indie scene of old – smatterings of Superfood, of The Twang and sometimes even more euphoric Streets vibes emit from the speakers, drawn along heavily in bouncing bass and intricate guitar-work to make the record feel like something which deserves to be filling up dancefloors and clubs.

JAWS have never – not – been a party band, but this record feels like it would be perfectly paired with a cold cider (or beer, if you must) in a sweltering Academy mid-June, followed by a night out at Snobs. Throw on ‘Do You Remember’ and you’ll find JAWS going harder than they ever have before, the roaring guitars so at-odds with the dainty work of their first releases that it can be hard to reconcile it as the same band, save to say that this is a band that feels like it is truly ready to take the world on and put smiles on faces. Considering the band were able to fill rooms up and down the country back in 2015, it’s exciting to imagine what they can do now they have even bigger songs behind them, and a record which feels like it has massive cross-genre appeal.

Complimenting the band’s usual cocktail of dream-pop and indie is an inclusion of alt rock and even electronica for this latest record – ‘Fear’ feels like prime trance and breaks the album up nicely, falling right at the halfway point and offering a breather. We dive back in with ‘End of the World’ a track which ambles through dream-pop realms before letting loose the kind of roaring guitar that would do Arctic Monkeys proud, a punchy inclusion that stands so starkly against the airy verses that it just serves to make the whole song seem so much more dramatic.

For ‘The Ceiling’ JAWS have reached deep into their own DNA and deconstructed everything that made them popular in the first place, rebuilding it to create something stronger and more resilient. This record brims with emotive anthems that feel triumphant, the energy of even a softer track like ‘Looking/Passing’ lending itself to something monumental, a second birth for the band which can bridge the space between their previous two records and go so much further. When we’re seeing so many other homegrown bands call it a day – or otherwise take extended breaks – the release of exciting new material and upcoming tour dates feels like a big leap in the right direction to setting the world right.

‘The Ceiling’ is released tomorrow (Friday 5 April). You can get your copy HERE.
JAWS play the following dates later this month:
Tuesday 23 – Glasgow, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
Thursday 25 – London, The Electric Ballroom
Friday 26 – Manchester, O2 Ritz
Saturday 27 – Birmingham, O2 Institute

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