Perfecting Loneliness finds
Jets to Brazil continuing their trajectory from
Jawbreaker to
Orange Rhyming Dictionary to
Four Cornered Night. With this outing, the band develops their folk-pop repertoire via a set of summer-tinged, bittersweet memories. With deeper instrumentation, undone piano melodies, and larger-than-life orchestration,
Schwarzenbach and company manage to turn intimate observations into moments of transcendent grandeur -- and while the album might not sound exactly like
Nick Drake, the effect is the same. It's an emotional journey for sure, as songs like "Psalm" drift into the territory reserved for the likes of
James Taylor. But
Jets to Brazil maintains just enough rock crunch to keep the album driving. It's not all gloomy and glum -- "Autumn Walker" and "William Tell Override" still seethe with the punk-pop power of
Hüsker Dü and
Sugar and a relentlessly optimistic groove. But the final song, "Rocket Boy," is the most ambitious, and it will leave listeners welling up with nostalgia and yearning. ~ Charles Spano