Review Summary: I don't care if you're angry, suck it up, suck it up
A band like Jank is hard to describe. Hailing from the booming emo scene of Philadelphia, PA, Jank is Matt Diamond of Panucci’s Pizza’s newest project. Although they are obviously nothing new or remotely innovative, mostly drawing from the usual twinkly indie punk canon bands, they have a certain energy and aura within their music that is straight up fun.
Awkward Pop Songs is actually quite an apt title for this album. Firstly, all of the songs on this album have a certain catchiness to them. ‘Wut I Liek Abt U’ roars out of the gates with an extremely addictive riff (a riff somewhat reminiscent of a certain Romantics song spelled correctly) and opens up with Matt shouting “I kinda feel a bit salty!”. In fact, the guitar acts as if it is the lead singer at times throughout the album. Not only is the guitar work impressive and dynamic, the riffs are so contagious that you will find yourself humming along to them more often than not. With the utilization of moody tones and noodle-y riffs, the guitar work is able to stay interesting and emotive throughout the album. The rhythm section on this album perfectly accompanies the guitar work and vocal performances. Basslines seem to keep the chaotic guitar in place while, simultaneously, the drumming adds to the dynamic madness of many of the songs. Despite this madness, Awkward Pop Songs is still amazingly catchy. After a couple listens to the album, you can’t help but yell along to the ridiculous lyrics that are sung in an almost joyous style.
This leads into the awkward lyrics themselves, which range from pointless stories to amusing one-liners to even complete nonsense. An avid listener to the scene that Jank is considered to be in might dismiss the silly lyrics as bad songwriting or unnecessary. Even though some lyrics are admittedly not the most insightful, the vocal delivery saves them entirely. Matt’s vocal performances on this album are actually quite refined as opposed to the usual gritty, off-key singing found in most emo music. ‘Caitlyn’ really showcases Matt’s range and ability to almost effortlessly string together his harmonious melodies and rough shouts. He even puts together an impressive falsetto section within the song, before diving into the noisy and chaotic outro. Yet, even without the fantastic vocal performances, the lyrics are somewhat brilliant in a way. From the self-aware ones (“This is a rip-off of a Title Fight song”), to the hilarious parodies of current indie punk lyrics (“Oh Caitlyn you’re nothing, because you’re an imaginary dog”), the lyrics are actually fun to listen to. There are numerous instances of these lyrics and listing them all off would be pointless, but the main idea is that these lyrics don’t have to be profound or deep because Jank wanted to make an album that is insanely fun to listen to, lyrics included.
Making a fun album doesn’t come without a couple failed attempts however. The interludes to this album add nothing to the flow of the album at all. In fact, most of them are meant to disrupt this flow. ‘Loading Screen’ is the main culprit of this as it is an electronic-sounding mess of a song, filled with unnecessary bleeps and bloops and weird, annoying sound effects. Although it is obvious songs like this and ‘The Hat Store’ were made for laughs, it doesn’t dismiss the fact that they can get annoying to listen to when listening to the album as a whole (although I do find ‘The Hat Store’ extremely humourous). Ignoring the interludes, Jank is still able to produce eight solid emo-pop songs, failing to construct a non-instrumental song that seems to be a filler.
Awkward Pop Songs is energetic, it’s intense, it’s hilariously self-aware and at times even musically impressive. Jank is able to perfectly capture everything great about emo revival music (sing-along-y choruses, twinkly guitar work, and intense breakdowns), and put it into a slightly less depressing light. Jank obviously had a ton of fun making this record, and Awkward Pop Songs is a way for the listener to join in on it.
