With Ty Tabor (King's X), Derek Sherinian (Planet X, Dream Theater) and Gregg and Matt Bissonette (Mustard Seeds) entering the studio, one would expect a fairly progressive album to come out. It didn't. But an interesting and accessible album did.
The self-titled Jughead project is way too pop for my tastes. Song constructions are bare-bones with few exceptions. But the lyrics are spiritual and keyboardist Sherinian creates an engaging sonic environment in the background to keep the listener from entering a Barneyan insanity.
But I should be more charitable. There are a number of good rock songs on this album and the Mustard Seeds influence is at least somewhat apparent on every track.
"Snow in Tahiti" is a loud pop song that contains the instrumental elements of a Tom Petty rocker. "Bullet Train" is fast, thick and harmonic heavy pop. The closer, "Paging Willie Mays," has that Weezerish quiet-loud, quiet-loud buildup amidst rumbling bass alternating with squeaky guitar licks. "Be Like You" will be enjoyed by fans of the Foo Fighters or Sonic Flood.
The most progressive song and, by extrapolation, the best on this album is "Yesterday I Found Myself." This one starts very slow then gets Sabbath heavy with some industrial sounds before leaping into a speedy new time signature for the chorus. This was the only song that really screamed, "Platypus" (Tabor and Sherinian's previous collaboration).
I even found myself enjoying one of the slower tunes, "Waiting on the Son," mainly because it managed to showcase some of Tabor's soloing skills. It's a mellow Wallflowers sort of tune with some inspirational lyrics:
You're never alone when you're alone all by yourself.
There's always a home when you are waiting on the Son.
But take all the albums I have heard from these respective artists, put them in a pile, and Jughead is one of the last ones I would pop in the CD player. Besides that, it doesn't hold a candle to Crunchy's "All Day Sucker" for heavy pop. So at best I can give it a neutral rating. (Non-musicians add an extra tock for its accessibility.)
2.5 tocks
