One of the good/bad things about bandcamp is that you can dig around in trusted individuals' collections and tempt yourself into parting with yet more of that hard-earned cash. Last bandcamp Friday Not Unloved drew a blank on what to buy (after picking up the essential new Leaf Library singles and whatever comp, that is) until I stumbled on "Pioneer" by Lynchburg, Tennessee's identical twin brothers, The Jangles (thanks JM!). The Jangles are well acquainted with the best of The Monkees and are all the more lovable for it. The CD's artwork is delightfully naive in an illustration-doodled-on-the-cover-of-a-jotter way and the glorious black and white band photo could've graced the back cover of any number of semi-remembered private press lp's of the 70s:
The Jangles have good ears and sure know their way around a catchy melody and have the good sense to cherry-pick and adapt their faves from the past. Like their lite-pysch forebears, they have the requisite quota of whimsical songs about animals (monkeys, octopuses) but manage to pull them off with enough charm and restraint that the results are never too sickly sweet. After the first couple of listens, the romantic "Passing Glance" was the song that lingered longest:
A pleasing by-product of listening to The Jangles was being nudged to dig out those dazzling Bus Stop Label 45s by The Sneetches. Now there's a group that's ripe for a classy reissue campaign...
