Band: Jolly
Band Website: www.myspace.com/jollyband5
Label: Galileo/ProgRock Records
Label Website: www.progrockrecords.com
Release Date: 2009
I get this sense that we’re at a very interesting point on the musical landscape. Band’s such as Jolly are popping
up and taking a contemporary prog swing at the music scene. At once interesting and adventurous, daring to take risks and yet being
totally accessible. These are groups such as Radiohead and Muse, bands whose inspiration is buried deep within these grooves. This
is Jolly’s first full CD release entitled Forty Six Minutes, Twelve Seconds of Music and its chock full of catchy riffs and some striking
instrumental virtuosity. Hailing out of
Forty Six Minutes, Twelve Seconds of Music consists of 9 tracks, most of which
are in the five to six minute range. Stylistically the music of Jolly has much in common with modern prog bands such as Muse, Believe
and others along those lines. The compositions are bold, even striking in their anthemic qualities all the while harboring a real
sense of melancholy. It’s not so much that these are complex pieces as much as they arranged in a complex manor. Instruments stride
in out of nowhere, sounds creep in under atmospheric landscapes, and in virtually every composition it all builds into wonderfully
melodic packages. It’s nice to see that Jolly isn’t afraid to pull back the intensity and wallow in a moody mellowness from time to
time. It’s these contrasts that add measures to the finished effect. Each song comes with some great guitar riffs perfect for those
who like to air-guitar and then equally prominent are the keyboards that are spread liberally throughout the nine tracks.
The
sound of Jolly is BIG…I mean really BIG…and I like it a lot. Forty Six Minutes and Twelve Seconds of Music is exactly that 46:12 so
by modern standards is quite short, more or less the length of a vinyl album, but at the same time the disc is packed with a myriad
of musical notes that easily make up for that brevity. The obvious question some will ask is, is it Prog? It certainly is if your
prog leaning bends to bands like Saga although Jolly are somewhat heavier in the guitar department. If you enjoy the music of Muse
or Believe I can assure you Jolly will be much to your liking.
