The Jaguar Club

And We Wake Up Slowly (self-released)

By Lou Battaglia
Published: August 22nd, 2009 | 12:46am

Brooklyn-based band the Jaguar Club is the latest installment in the seemingly never-ending proliferation of musical acts emanating from that bohemian borough across the bridge. While Brooklyn has avoided establishing a tangible or definitive “sound,” anyone with partially working ears is usually able to identify a band that sounds like they are from Brooklyn, or at least wants to be. The Jaguar Club is no different. Well… actually they are. A little bit anyway.

The Jaguar Club is a tightly wound trio that leans on the trimmed-down post-punk/New Wave rhythm tracks of Yoichiro Fujita (bass) and Jeremiah Joyce (drums). Will Popadic is up front on guitar with vocals channeling Morrissey (“Bloodpressure”), Ian Curtis (“This Summer”), and, at times, even a little Geddy Lee. You’ll hear this when Popadic screeches around the upper register of his fragile but crooning voice on standout tracks “Out Of the City” and the first single, “Sleepwalking.”

It’s also on these two tracks where the essence of the Jaguar Club is captured and they establish whatever potential they might have to develop beyond their current sound. Centered on Popadic’s inflected vocal style — which will undoubtedly entice plenty of sing-a-longs in a live setting — Fujita’s bass pushes while Joyce’s drums pull, and the Jaguar Club establishes a groove that is as easy to slip into as a Seinfeld episode.

While their sound is simple to the point of elegance, there is a distinct feeling of space that doesn’t feel like it was purposely inserted during a post-production mix. This works for the band, being a trio, because it leaves them innumerable directions to branch off of while simultaneously allowing Popadic room to develop his loosely controlled vocal range. Other than Fujita’s basslines, which often recall Joy Division’s “Transmission” (or everything that came after it), everything on this album — from Popadic’s voice on “Corks Pop” to the drums on “Perfect Timing” — has a paper-thin quality to it. Kudos to producer Kevin McMahon (The Walkmen, Titus Andronicus, Frightened Rabbit) for leaving this sound as is. That being said, one of the most interesting thing about this band may be how (or if) they will fill that sound on the next record.

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