The Jacuzzi Boys' self-titled third album shows the rambunctious Florida trio growing up and cleaning up. Not too much; they still have plenty of the unbridled energy and joy that burst through the speakers like rays of sunshine. Clean enough, though, that the album might appeal to people who don't know
Ty Segall from Ty Burrell. Grown up enough that the band doesn't sound like they're cutting class to record. Working with
Bill Skibbe and
Jessica Ruffins at Key Club Studio, then having the record mastered by the legendary
Kramer, shows that the band is taking things more seriously, and that maybe they'll be taken more seriously in return. These concerns are mostly for indie rock fanatics -- what really matters is that working with these people has helped give
the Boys' sound more power and punch, focusing their ramshackle energy into something laser guided and capable of exploding into bursts of truly exciting rock & roll on tracks like "Rubble" and "Hotline." While those rockers are the songs that might reach out and grab you the first time through, there's more to the album than that. It's a fully rounded record -- the more restrained songs like "Double Vision" and "Guillotine" have enough dynamic tension to give off sparks, and the quieter songs like "Dust" and "Heavy Horse" show that the band can play soft with as much force as on the rocked-out tracks. It's a great collaboration between producers and band that results in an album that's a step ahead from their previous work and it keeps everything that was good and builds on it, adding new sounds and generally tightening things up until it sounds ready to pop. There are many (too many?) bands in 2013 playing this kind of raucous garage rock, but thanks to the perfect production, the high-quality hookage in every song, and the nuanced yet powerful performance
the Jacuzzi Boys deliver, there are precious few bands doing it better. ~ Tim Sendra