piqued jacks - just a machine

Piqued Jacks

Just A Machine
self-released; 2013

3.6 out of 5

By Eva Cantillo

Making the long and less-traveled path from Italy to Austin, Piqued Jacks have found themselves bursting out on the indie rock music scene, experiencing great American success. The band is an clever play on words and their wit comes across yet again when you hit the play button. Their latestalbum release, Just a Machine, draws sounds from edgy math rock and could be compared to bands like Mars Volta, Incubus, and Muse.

 The opening track on the album titled “Welcome to the Future” is a well-rounded track that screams alternative indie rock, while effortlessly emitting an international flair.  The song starts off with a rusty, starched guitar chord that seems to slowly fizzle away before some intense layering of various percussion, guitars and effects lead up to the intro of the main vocalist’s smooth yet mysterious voice. The lyrics “highways are slow, at a walking pace we go,” set the scene, and then “do you hear me? hey you robot!” give us the theme behind the lyrics and their connotations about the state of present and future societies.

“Youphoric?!” is yet another clever play on words and from the start just makes you want to get up and dance. The lyrics “wish you saw the lips of the goddess moving like your sexy tamer tonight,” tell us the song is about a specific type of euphoria. Then going on “euphoria has a always, but for now you can smile somebody paid for you.” This song has a gung-ho dance vibe to it and fits perfectly in both a busy bar and a backyard summer party.

Despite avoiding using filters in the final mixing process, the album’s sound is very tuned and stays true to the band’s overall pseudo hard-rock sound. The band’s origin overseas and their recent transplant to the states gives their sound an added layer of aural sensation and interesting nuances.

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