Jersey Calling's "Parasocial Security": A Pop Punk Powerhouse
Need a boost? Yeah, don’t we all. There’s nothing like some pop punk to get you on your way; charging down the street trying to step to the beat that keeps you on the very tip of your toes. Pop punk has, and will, always punch well above its weight when it comes to quality. With the aim of pop-punk to get a hard-hitting melody out into the world — you can do that at any scale. So pop punk, from mainstream to indie, is all about the music. That’s exactly why Jersey Calling’s latest album, ‘Parasocial Security,’ is such an all-round banger. It’s bright and full of charm. The vocals hold a world of personality in them. They feel the lyrics as they sing them and that connects you further to the songs. Later in the album, the layers of duet and the passing back and forth of the baton allows the songs to stay fresh, keeps them innovating, and keeps the melody at the core of it all.
‘Gods & Cowboys,’ the opener, does exactly what a pop punk opener should do. It gives you texture: the bass rattles, the hum of the melody lies deep in its tone, it bleeds out just faintly as the drums begin to draw us in. Two slams and wham! A wall of guitars and kick drums. The bass holds it all together, rounding off the sound with perfect little twists of pace. The vocals kick in strong. They have grit but they don’t focus on it, they focus on the flow, on the gaps where vocals need to be. They bring the song to that next level. When the band is in full swing, playing together and sinking their teeth into their song — they glow.
‘Twisted Paradigm’ is perhaps the strongest song of the bunch. It’s the chug of guitars paired with that percussion. The flow of the melody into that chorus, the subtle climb, the zenith and fall. Then the passing of the vocals and how that plays into the themes of the song and the story being told in the lyrics. Everything, from the flick of the wrist to the flow of a line, has been thought about and crafted specifically for its purpose in the song. It’s a golden example of pop punk in the indie scene. Better than the big leagues.
The album pushes through every asset that Jersey Calling have. You hear them flow slow, ‘Backseat Driver,’ you hear them play with form, ‘Mid-life Crisis,’ and you hear them have a tonne of fun, ‘Hasta Luego.’ No matter your punky tastes there is something for you here. Chances are if you like one you’ll like another, and by the time you’re done you’ll love them all. ‘Parasocial Security’ is a lively and well-constructed pop punk album that doesn’t settle for anything less than the sound the band imagined. Each track is a standout single but, when thrown together in such an organic way, create between one another the unnamable thing of greatness: the perfected flow of an album which captures your emotions in the songs, in the titles, in the art, in the pauses.
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