Jessica Jalbert

Add Date: December 6

Artist: Jessica Jalbert 

Album: Brother Loyola 

Label: Old Ugly 

Genre: Rock, folk rock

Comments: The promoter starts its review of this LP with this line: "One of college radio's biggest pleasures is hearing a tremendous album by an artist you're unfamiliar with." Well said. Until a couple of days ago, the name Jessica Jalbert hadn't even flown across my radar. Now, after a few listens to Brother Loyola, I'm hooked on the music from this Edmonton troubadour.

Jalbert (rhymes with "Albert") has already received the "alt-country" tag from multiple critics, but I don't think that's entirely accurate. While there are certainly some nice, atmospheric folk songs on Brother Loyola, that's only one of many motifs floating throughout the record. "Singer/songwriter" doesn't quite work, either--though Jalbert writes some excellent tunes, she works with a full-band setup, with guitars, bass and keyboards accented by cornet (played by Jalbert herself) and the occasional trombone, saxophone or cello. Needless to say, "rock" doesn't tell the whole story, either. As you can tell, it's pretty difficult to classify this music, and in this case that's a good thing.

Wye Oak is the best starting point for comparison, not least because Jalbert's voice sounds a good deal like that of Jenn Wasner. (I occasionally get a hint of Land of Talk's Elizabeth Powell, too.) Lead track "Necromancy" is a swirling, folk-infused composition that wouldn't seem out of place on Civilian or The Knot, but it quickly cedes the floor to a bombastic, piano and guitar-driven pop song in "Whatever Whomever". "Paris Green" has a heavy bass line and lots of guitar noise, which are neatly offset by Jalbert's sweet vocals. "Lack of a Lake" and "Stupid Hollow" are '60s pop-inspired tunes with a nice country undertone. In short, there are a lot of nice things going on throughout this record.

Brother Loyola is stellar from start to finish, but begin with tracks 4, 8, 1, 5 and 2.