San Fermin
Jackrabbit
April 27 2015 (Downtown/Sony RED)
5/10
Words: Richard O’Hagan
‘Jackrabbit’ is the second album from Brooklyn composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone and his band of acolytes and it is one which has had something of a tortured existence, having originally been written well before the band’s debut came out in 2013. Given that the band have had so long to think about it – or perhaps because they have had so long to think about it – it is something of a surprise that they have turned out something so thoroughly dull and uninspiring.
True, there are moments which alleviate the boredom. The opening of ‘The Woods’, stark discordant piano and all, intrigues and makes the listener wonder what will come next. The title track is as close to pop as the band comes and ‘Woman in Red’ will make a fine set closer one day. It is also clear that Ludwig-Leone is no ordinary lyricist, if a slightly pretentious one. Lines like "pulling legs off salamanders" (from ‘The Woods’) and "a chocolate fondant face I can believe in" (‘Parasites’) make you think, even if your only thought is ‘This guy’s birthday parties were very different to mine’.
The issue is that these things all stand out because the rest of the album is such musical wallpaper that you hardly know it is there. And it goes on for fifteen bloody tracks, which is a completely pointless number when so many of them sound alike and at least five are entirely superfluous. Ludwig-Leone can and should do better than this.
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