ALBUM REVIEW: Jason Wolfman Martin - POWERTAPE
“With accompaniments dancing all over, from guitars, organ, bells, and other sounds, there’s a lot of moving parts that don’t smother the very catchy vocal melody, but rather embody it.”
The L.A. freak scene of the ‘60s has lived on through music and art, infecting sounds and scopes of creation. Jason Wolfman Martin certainly embodies some of those elements with his 22-track album filled with odd noises, catchy hooks and some songs that seem traditional — on the surface, anyway. While there are elements of many genres, you can certainly expect some twists and turns, making POWERTAPE a rousing, lo-fi analog adventure from start to finish.
The album opens with the first highlight, a hypnotic number called “Dirty Secrets.” Martin repeats the title of the track over a drum machine, and eventually a bass sequencer joins in the fun to act as the chorus of the song. It then jumps into the verse, speaking to the evils of the internet: “the internet is terrible, it’s infected, it’s bad.” Everything is steady, backed by a beat that runs straight through and the instrumentals continue to build, getting to the bridge which throws in the first curve ball — a nice bluesy bass line that breaks away for an indie rock vibe before getting back into the chorus. This chorus itself is actually insanely catchy and infectious, even though it's incredibly simple. Sometimes, less is more and Martin nailed it with this one. Then, things make a nice departure to track two, “Catspeople.”
The track opens with something you might expect from a 70’s brit-pop number, but with some added shenanigans with what sounds like a chord organ played through an effects loop. The song then opens up into a full-on groove-centered rock number. With accompaniments dancing all over — from guitars, organs, bells, and other sounds — there’s a lot of moving parts that don’t smother the very catchy vocal melody, but rather embody it.
The next highlight is track four, “Hat Trick,” a complete departure with a nice acoustic guitar-driven tune. Lasting only one minute and eighteen seconds, in the grand scheme of the album up to this point, it plays as an interlude. The lyrics are either extremely deep or nonsensical, but either way it works because it fits the record’s vibe, even though it maybe wouldn’t seem like it at first. It’s just another example of one of the many unexpected surprises. In a similar vein is the next highlight, track 10, “All Time.”
“All Time” is another short, acoustic guitar-driven song. The song opens with “I’m sure they’d twist my words if they knew what I was saying,” which adds intrigue to some of the lyrics that seem to be Martin speaking in code. It also contains one of my new favorite lines, “The future is boring and the past is stupid too.” Could this song be the crux of the album? Maybe someday I'll figure that out. The final highlight is the penultimate track, “Pegasus.”
There is always a certain intrigue with how you choose the final track for an album of this breadth. Well, why not a song with a reggae groove and catchy riffs that is seemingly about getting gas at a Mobil station, “Remove the pump, begin to fuel when pegasus lights up.” However, nothing Martin does seems that easy to read at surface level, and I don’t think I'll think about putting gas in my car the same way in these coming weeks.
Oozing with analog warmth, this album feels like a throwback and sounds like a modern piece of work all in the same runtime. While some songs will stand out immediately, others will likely grow on you over time. With 49 minutes across 22 tracks, Martin gives everyone an opportunity to connect with something on POWERTAPE. This is certainly one I will revisit, as it feels like a living, breathing piece of art that can transform before your very ears.
POWERTAPE is available now on Bandcamp: https://jasonwolfman.bandcamp.com/album/powertape