Horse Jumper of Love is an American indie rock trio from Boston, Massachusetts composed of Dimitri Giannopoulos (vocals/guitar), John Margaris (bass), and James Doran (drums). They release their latest album `Disaster Trick` this month which I read, feels like a creative reset for the band, partly due to vocalist and songwriter Dimitri Giannopoulos` recent sobriety. “This was the first album I’ve ever done where I went into it with a very clear mind,” he says. “In the past, we would just show up at a studio, drink, and record. Here, everything felt purposeful.” “This album is a reflection on destructive behaviour from a lens of more clarity,” says Giannopoulos. “A lot of the songs came out of this point where things in my life were going well but I couldn’t accept it. I was being a brat. `Disaster Trick` is me cleaning up my act a bit and reflecting on it.”
The album opens with `Snow Angel` which has a fairly grungy texture with a kind of gentle vulnerability about it, a song that seems to be both quiet but fairly noisy at the same time. We have a much more reflective number in the tender `Wink` where Russian author Dmitry Bakin’s short story “Leaves” inspired Dimitri Giannopoulos.” “The story is partly about people leaving their home for something better, but when they return they are back to the same place they started,” he explained.
`Today`s Iconoclast` rolls along and has a sort of slacker feel about it while `Word` touches on the distortion of reality, specifically how your sense of time and reality becomes distorted through someone else’s sense of it. A song that almost crawls along probably mirroring its subject matter.
`Lip Reader` is a fairly intense listen with vocals that sound quite lethargic and portray an almost sense of frustration or exhaustion. There`s nigh on a sense of pleading or supplication on `Wait Buy the Stairs` which again is a real stuttering slow burn.
`Heavy Metal` has a deep passion and is a reasonably introspective musing. We have another leisurely contemplation with `Curtain` which again teeters along.
`Death Spiral` appears to be a skewed declaration of love possibly. There a further contemplative offering in `Gates Of Heaven` which is mid paced and has some jangling light riffs.
The album closes with `Nude Descending` which has a percussive heartbeat and recurring riff that allows the vocals to relay it`s odd narrative.
There`s a real dark, brooding intensity to `Disaster Trick` which at times is fairly minimal. I have to admit that at times the lyrical content passed me by but i`m sure both the lyrics and it`s auditory accompaniment will become clearer as I return to listen to this release.
Rating 8/10
