Music Review // Jay Feelbender "Gallery of Desire"

The music of Jay Feelbender is an exploration between the sounds of rock and electronic melodies.  Between the distorted guitar riffs you can also hear the keys.  This comes out in an almost pop-like way within the first two songs, though the second song "Good Days" also has this almost grunge / alternative way about it.  I'm reminded of bands like Lit, who kind of came and went in the late 1990's.    Alongside catchy undertones, there is just a lot of energy to this album as well, even on "Party Down The Street", which is a steady ballad.

"Gallery of Desire" is a lot of fun because not only does it feel like it's rock and electronic, it can sometimes be that way at the same time.  "Pink Whitney" has these acoustics to start, but then the drum machine sound kicks in.  "Hello Kitty Tattoo" reminds me a bit of Hellogoodbye, while "Trust Yourself" turns into more of that Breakfast Club / Oingo Boingo sound from before the grunge wave of the 1990s.  

With a song called "Good Days" you have to feel like this album is going to have an overall positive vibe.  "Trust Yourself" feels encouraging with the lines: You need to love yourself / Cause you don't need those guys".  On the other hand, "Angel" has that hopeful sort of feeling with the lyrics "I can't wait till you come around / So I can never fuck things up / I won't fuck things up this time" .  "Angel" also feels melodic, like maybe a Tom Petty song, once again pushing those boundaries between electronic and rock.

What I think is perhaps the best quality of "Gallery of Desire", which may not be apparent right away, is that the album truly does seem to be a reflection of the title.  Not only the lyrics previously quoted, but lines like "I know it isn't love but I don't know what to call it" gives you that overall feeling of want, of desire.  Between hints of Marcy Playground, Shawn Mullins and Elvis Costello I really enjoy that there is also a line which just says: "Rough sex, cigarettes on pavement / I wrote it down but can't remember what the words meant".  Perhaps there are desires and interpretations which can left to the listener as well.