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Jump takes different approach

By Alex Kekel
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Staff Writer

My band of choice for the last year or so has been Jump, Little Children (recently shortened to Jump). Their unusual name comes from the title of a blues song by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and you can tell from the name alone that they�re a little off the beaten path. They are the only rock band I know of to include the musical stylings of an accordion, mandolin, cello and tin whistle, just to name a few.

Originally they played a mixture of Irish folk music, blues, jazz, ska, classic rock, indie and punk. But over the years they have fine tuned their sound from a hodge-podge of different songs to an album with one heart. Their newest release �Between the Dim and the Dark� is that album.

While their older albums are brilliant in their own right, �Between the Dim and the Dark� is the first one to have a real flow to it.

On �Magazine,� one of their earlier albums, it was not uncommon to hear a few soft, thought provoking songs about society and the meaning of life and then a raunchy punk song about a man�s love for his guitar. With this newest album the transition between tracks is a lot less jarring.

Another marked difference with this album is that they now have only one lead singer. While on previous albums there were tracks with the vocals of Matt Bivins taking center stage, the band seems to have decided that this album should have only one vocalist. I think that Jay Clifford�s beautiful pipes can keep listeners satisfied this time around, but for those of us used to the occasional �Matt song� it will certainly be a change.

With all the changes being made, from the name to the singers, it�s easy to forget everything that has stayed the same. The brilliant lyrics, breathtaking melodies and unique vision has remained completely intact, if not improved.

�Hold You Down,� a haunting track, brings the idea of bondage to a new light: �Did I, did I lend a hand to hold you down / Or just a hand to hold? / Did I, did I pull the wool over your eyes / Or keep you from the cold?�

The track �Education� echoes with everyone who�s ever had a broken heart: �There�s no way that you�ll ever be the same again / Now you are a fool to fate / Like it or not, like it or not / There is no way you can escape / From a broken heart�s education.� Jay�s crooning voice sounds just as heartbroken as you felt.

This is one band that has beauty I have trouble conveying with words alone. You just have to hear them. That cool blend of instruments and vocals with moving, brilliant lyrics that seem to reach to the very core of their subject are something that you just can�t miss. So go pick up a copy (or better yet, go and see them live at the Variety Playhouse on April 30) and remember that they�re only getting better with time.

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