Days of Jupiter - Panoptical (2018)

Whilst I was enduring the Groundhog Day of this album’s endlessly recycled ideas, it got me on to chuckling over its similarities with John Hammond in Jurassic Park. A strange analogy to be sure, but in Jurassic Park Mr. Hammond has a rather perverted obsession with the line “spared no expense”, which is used at any given opportunity. During my crash course with Panoptical my mind wondered, and when I’m in this state I tend to notice things because of the songwriting’s inability to keep me hooked. During their antiquated single “Panoptical”, I instantly took notice to the band’s compulsive use of watery, reverb effects – the kind of guitar effect you’d recognise from Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” (only slightly less saturated) – and to my surprise, it didn’t take me long to realise just how much it is used on the rest of the album, to the point of becoming a butting joke. The difference between John’s tagline and these lazy writing practices, is I find charm in Hammond’s noticeable habit. Here, it’s more of a bewildering facepalm which accentuates the band’s one-dimensional imagination.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it？ When you’re having to look for something that’ll entertain you because the songs don’t, it speaks volumes about what you’re in for here. Sonically, the record taps into a sound akin to what The Tea Party made over 20 years ago: hard-rock with twinkly guitar passages and lashings of folk influence to add character to the base of the album’s sound, made all the more familiar with a vocal performance reminiscent of Jeff Martin’s nasally drawl solidifying an unprecedented comparison. But this is about where the similarities end as it’s a far more flaccid and powerless record. Songs drone on for far too long considering there’s not a lot of substance to be found; straightforward rock riffs with guitar chugs and the same flatline melodies hopelessly trying to hold it all together. The band touch onto something half memorable with “I Am Fuel” which has a standout, weighty hook and actually puts that reverb-soaked motif to good use, but the rest of the record is a completely homogeneous experience that rarely deviates from the mid-tempo numbers and characterless instrumental work. It’s all the more damaging when you hone in on the record’s lyrical subject matter which taps into cringing platitudes of where society is at the minute; ala, people’s fixation with the internet and social media, as well as the younger generation’s yearning dreams to get famous for nothing. It’s not even the fact they’re talking about this stuff, but more how it’s presented so on the nose it makes the whole topic completely uninteresting.

Panoptical is not a horrible album, its biggest crime is that it’s just outright uninteresting, but clocking in at nearly an hour there’s no way the band could ever dream of holding your interest for that long. Able musicians, able singer. That’s about as positive as it gets. The lack of creative function just makes this whole experience a samey slog, and its overuse of the same tricks gets old quickly. My suggestion: just listen to The Tea Party as they do this kind of sound far more justice.

TRACKLIST

1. Days Of Jupiter - Swallow
2. Days Of Jupiter - We All Die Young
3. Days Of Jupiter - I Am Fuel
4. Days Of Jupiter - Why
5. Days Of Jupiter - Panoptical
6. Days Of Jupiter - Black Hole
7. Days Of Jupiter - Sons of War
8. Days Of Jupiter - The End Will Begin Again
9. Days Of Jupiter - Edge of Everything
10. Days Of Jupiter - Shallow Side
11. Days Of Jupiter - Nine Tons of Lies
12. Days Of Jupiter - Thieves and Legends