If you’ve followed alternative rock at all in the past twenty years, you already know something about The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, whose reputation for distributing big riffs and killer beats alongside emo-style vocal harmonies is internationally known. This summer, the Florida-founded band is back with a new single in “Brace Yourself” ahead of their August offering The Emergency EP, and although there’s perhaps never been quite as unique a time to be recording new music as the present, they don’t sound shaken by current events. The lyric video further demonstrates how committed this group is to making music that’s about more than themselves, and whether you’re a RJSA fan or not, it’s a release I’d tell you to go take a look at before the season is over.
MORE ON THE JUMPSUIT APPARATUS: https://www.theredjumpsuitapparatus.com/
“Brace Yourself” definitely spotlights the relationship between its vocal and the riffs more than it does any of the other components in the music, but this doesn’t mean it’s not a streamlined track – I’d even say it’s one of the smoother numbers in this band’s discography. They don’t try to hide what their aesthetical goals are in this single; if anything, I think The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are producing something in their latest work that stands to reassert who they want to be both in and outside of the studio. They’ve got a more focused energy in relation to how the words are a direct extension of the music and vice versa, which is something that can take an entire lifetime to perfect.
The lyric video for “Brace Yourself” is conceptually black and white, which allows for the natural color within the music to become the sole object of our affections. There’s a lot of substance to this song that goes well beyond the words, but the surreal imagery accompanying the verses here is a nice added touch that doesn’t go over the top at all – the opposite, really. When we’re given a chance to hear the intricacies just within the melodic ascending and descending of the guitar melodies in this single, there’s no dismissing it as another release from a band whose formula hasn’t changed much since their salad days. RJSA have more to offer than that, and you can’t deny it after listening to this song.
The Emergency EP isn’t out yet, but the buzz being generated for its release on the strength of “Brace Yourself” has me eager to hear what it’s going to sound like in its totality. There are quite a few interesting rock bands emerging from the shadows of the American underground at the moment, but this veteran act is proving that they have the stuff to keep up with a younger crowd – if not eclipse them in a few areas of artistic maturity. There are still ways that I think The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are going to – and should – grow, but for what I look for in an unfiltered rock sound, theirs is definitely a top tier contender regardless of the material in question.
Garth Thomas