Review: Jack O’ The Clock – Portraits (2025)

Portraits is Jack O’ The Clock’s 10th studio album.

Formed in 2007, American band Jack O’ The Clock’s music balances from album to album somewhere between complex avant-prog and folk-rock. From record to record, it varies which style comes out on top. The previous album The Warm, Dark Circus focused mainly on very intricate prog and now it’s the turn of folk.

Progressive rock is largely left aside on Portraits and the semi-acoustic album highlights the side of the band that draws inspiration from the folk ballads of Appalachia. On the other hand, the art music background of the band’s creative engine Damon Waitkus shines through here and there, and Jack O’ The Clock’s take on folk is not the most straightforward on this album either. This is no Pete Seeger. However, the grander side of the band takes a back seat this time and most of the 17 songs on Portraits are only 3-5 minutes long, with several miniatures under two minutes.

Instead of new music, Portraits actually offers new old music. Its roots go back to the summer of 2003, a time before Jack O’ The Clock even existed. In 2003, Waitkus was immersed in art music studies and thought he had outgrown songwriting. However, alongside more serious compositions, they came about spontaneously and somewhat accidentally. Composed on acoustic guitar, and now finally ending up on Portraits, the compositions flowed freely and effortlessly, with no particular intended purpose in mind. The raw material was put aside for a couple of decades until Waitkus discovered the old tapes in 2023 and was pleasantly surprised by their potential. Apart from the lyrics. The original lyrics and vocals were thrown straight into the scrap heap and Waitkus wrote and sang new ones in their place.

Typical of Jack O’ The Clock, Portraits’ lyrics are also rather cryptic. As the name suggests, they are mostly first-person character portraits. Often a little sarcastic, the lyrics throw the listener into the middle of people’s lives and leave them to wonder who this person is and what they are really about. Nothing is spelled out. I like this.

Welcome to my palace.
You won’t find a place to sit.
If you see a fire hazard,
I don’t really give a shit.
Nature does abhor a vacuum,
and for that matter, a broom.
Might as well cultivate abundance
if you only have a room.

In addition to the lyrics, the music has also been largely rearranged.

The original songwriting was recorded by Waitkus together with his partner, violinist Emily Packard, supported by a group of Roger Vaughan (bass guitar) and Brad Mehlenbacher (drums). The 2023 version expands the instrumentation. Waitkus added new parts on guitars, dulcimer, piano and more. Victor Reynolds plays bass guitar, guitars, piano and Kate McLoughlin bassoon in the new version. However, the role of the bassoon is much smaller than on many previous Jack O’ The Clock albums.

Read also: Review: Jack O’ The Clock – Leaving California (2021)

Although the first versions of the album were played in a basement in Rhode Island, its music has the charm of music played casually in a farmhouse porch. The moods are more light-hearted and relaxed than on Jack O’ The Clock albums in general, but there is always something darker and stranger underneath the surface. Melancholic reflection is also present, which is typical of the band.

The gently playful opening track ”Josephine’s Fresh Cuts” gives a good idea of the overall style of the album. At just over six minutes, it is the longest track on the album. ’Josephine’s Fresh Cuts’ stays instrumental for a long time, transforming its shape as if by stealth as Waitkus subtly varies the instrumentation. Although Portraits’ songs are simpler than the band’s music in general, ”Josephine’s Fresh Cuts” is a good example of how Waitkus doesn’t compromise on rich arrangements this time either. In ”Josephine’s Fresh Cuts”, the music is initially carried mainly by guitar, then the ball is thrown to the piano and finally an electric guitar is brought on stage. In addition, the music is embellished with little details such as a tinkling glockenspiel, which in themselves are not essential to the composition, but which enrich the sound nicely.

Waitkus’ art music background comes to the surface, especially in ”No. 4 Mountain”. The beautiful ”No. 4 Mountain”, a duet of acoustic guitar and intricate melodic violin, sounds like a perfect symbiosis of folk and chamber music. The more diversely orchestrated ”Lazy Tom Bog” (how often do you hear a ukulele and bassoon in the same song?) also hits more or less the same note, although it sounds more rootsy.

The mostly rather serene album also offers a few more energetic tracks to contrast, the best of which are ”I’m OK, You’re A Shithead” and ”Puer 1” The fast-paced and upbeat ”I’m OK, You’re A Shithead” seems to comment on the effects of societal dumbing down with an ironic twist and features some really inspiring violin riffing from Packard and a sympathetic little buzzing electric guitar solo. ”Puer 1”, meanwhile, is a fast-paced miniature with more electric instrumentation than the rest of the material, frenetic electric guitar playing, oddly choppy percussion and a twisted complexity that points in the direction of the band’s more avant-garde prog. This time it’s all compressed into two dense minutes.

On some of Jack O’ The Clock’s previous albums, the vocals have at times, in my opinion, played an over-dominant role. It’s funny in itself that although Portraits is made up of vocal songs, the balance seems to be more successful now. Waitkus’s reedy, nasal vocal tone is also better suited to such heavily folk-influenced music than to labyrinthine prog epics. Victor Reynolds also gets to sing a few songs in the lead role. He has a more conventional and brighter pop/rock voice than Waitkus.

Read also:

I admit that my first impression of Portraits is that it is a light interlude, but on further listens the album won me over with its delicious melodies, captivating atmosphere and detailed arrangements. Portraits is yet another testament to Waitkus’ prolific output and seemingly inexhaustible creativity. Jack O’ The Clock has now made ten studio albums, and there is not a dud in the bunch. Not many bands have been able to do that.

Portraits’ folk-rock may not work for all Jack O’ The Clock fans, but they will be comforted to know that more complex material is likely to be forthcoming next time; Waitkus told me in an interview in late 2023 that he was already working on a bunch of meticulously notated and contrapuntal music for a follow-up to Portraits. For my part, I am convinced that whatever direction Waitkus takes his band in the future, it will be something very interesting.

Best tracks “Josephine’s Fresh Cuts”, “I’m OK, You’re A Shithead”, ”Nature Abhors a Vacuum”, ”Puer 1”, ”Isolation Booth”, ”Windigo Knocking”

Portraits is available on major streaming services and can be purchased digitally on Bandcamp. No physical release is available, but Waitkus has promised that a small CD-R edition will be available soon.

Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Read also: Review: Jack O’ The Clock – Repetitions of the Old City II (2018)

Tracks

  1. Josephine’s Fresh Cuts 06:18
  2. I’m OK, You’re a Shithead 04:33
  3. No. 4 Mountain 02:08
  4. Another Sunny Day/Star of Monster 02:49
  5. Year of the Gypsy Moths 03:25
  6. In the Gold Coin Saloon 02:33
  7. My Life’s Not Wasted 01:40
  8. Lazy Tom Bog 03:30
  9. The Gardener 01:48
  10. Nature Abhors a Vacuum 05:05
  11. Puer 1 02:18
  12. Twomile Island 02:09
  13. Isolation Booth 05:07
  14. Stone Cold Steve Cactus In Mojave 01:32
  15. Windigo Knocking 04:36
  16. It’s Hard To Find Booze On Sunday 03:58
  17. Puer 2 00:41

Musicians 2003

Damon Waitkus: acoustic guitar, bass (1,2,4,6,13), flute (5), drums (11, 17) Emily Packard: violins Brad Mehlenbacher: drums Roger Vaughan: bass (7, 11,17)

Musicians 2023-24

Damon Waitkus: vocals, guitars, hammer dulcimer, piano etc. Victor Reynolds: bass, guitars, piano, vocals, etc. Kate McLoughlin: bassoon, vocals

Also includes previously unpublished old takes from over the years: Ivor Holloway: tenor sax and clarinet Art Elliot: organ Jonathan Russell: clarinet Dave McNally: mellotron

Producer: Damon Waitkus
Label: Independent release

Jätä kommentti

Website Built with WordPress.com.

Ylös ↑