SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE JAILBIRDS – HIGH NOON

THE JAILBIRDS
HIGH NOON
INDEPENDENT

Toronto-based power trio, The Jailbirds, continues to make a name for themselves as a premier band among the Ontario independent rock community with their third, and latest, EP, High Noon. Produced by Matt Grady and Myke Penney, the five-song record is their first since they released Jungle in 2021 and follows a string of singles that first kicked off in 2022 with “Sludge”.

High Noon opens with its most recent single, “Take Me Away”. The track commences with an absolute ripper of a riff that grows over a lengthy build up before the energy is cut by a spacious off-beat verse. Such a stark contrast between verse and chorus makes “Take Me Away” a unique track among the band’s work, while allowing for them to grapple with a sense of peaks and valleys organically, as best seen in the subtleties of the arrangement, particularly the use of backing vocals that perfectly accent Myke Penney’s melodies. The modern rock of the opening track is immediately countered with the ‘70s blues rock-inspired “Tokyo Smoke” that makes use of an organ amid a dense wall of sound. Once again, the production shines as The Jailbirds elevate their songwriting with an array of little touches that make for a fuller, and much more complete, song. To peel back the song is to find an incredibly arranged collection of guitar and vocal lines stacked atop a rock-steady rhythm section from drummer, Kevin Costa, and bassist, Liam Hills.

“Your Love” offers a groovier approach to a late ‘70s, proto-80s, rock tone. As the band continues to play with space – as introduced on “Take Me Away” – “Your Love” acts as a necessary palate cleanser that transitions the first half of the album towards the final stretch. Its placement is crucial. Following this is “Sludge”, a song that lives up to its title and sounds as though it was pulled from the Jerry Cantrell songbook. In addition to being an absolute onslaught of sludgy riffage, the track showcases Penney’s attention to tone as he flexes some of the greatest guitar tones you’ll hear from an independent rock band. High Noon comes to a close with the only unreleased song of the collection, “Our Time”, another stoner rocker that carries the immeasurable weight of a truly impending sense of doom. As the only song not previously released as a single, “Our Time” is a definite highlight as the band continues to embrace a sense of darkness heard on “Sludge”. Between these two songs, High Noon closes not only with a climax, but with what may be their strongest songs since their incendiary debut.

High Noon sees The Jailbirds hone themselves as both songwriters and performers with Penney especially coming into his own as a producer. Much like The Black River and Jungle, High Noon demands your attention with a series of five songs that revitalise how classic rock can influence the genre today, amid a wave of resurging interest in the sounds of previous decades.

Ultimately, The Jailbirds continue to push audience expectations, not only for modern rock, but for the standards of independent music, particularly so within Toronto’s, and even Canada’s, musical landscape.

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