The Jaggernauts Taste the Jaggernauts CD
From Eau Claire, WI, we have the JAGGERNAUTS with nine mid-tempo, haunting horrorpunk songs that dip a toe into the FALSE PROFITS swamp a little bit. I find myself humming the chorus of “Ent” (“Don’t hang out by the Wayside / I heard a girl there died”) as its stuck in my head, and I’ll tell ya what, don’t start researching (asking an internet browser) about dead people near or around Eau Claire, WI. Nothing good will come of it. With my whole heart, I believe that this is a very fun and interactive band to see live. Somewhere deep in the mix, there is a lot of AmRep tone in these songs; I can’t point to one thing inasmuch a total sound poking through here and there. This disc ends on an eight-minute epic with vocals akin to Peter Murphy and KILLDOZER, and toils around (and is maybe about) Count Dracula. The song builds to a crescendo of “Your blood is so delicious / I want to see the sun.” When I re-examine this disc, I’m starting to believe this is a rock opera that spans hundreds of years of a vampire’s existence—from being around for Marie Antoinette (a song of theirs), crossing an ocean and taking victims near Wayside Park in Eau Claire, WI, and finally finding sweet, sweet ruby nectar and deciding to grab an egg sandwich to watch the sun rise over the Chippewa River. This is fun, and a perfect album for a Christmas or a Halloween mixtape.