The four Californians of Jack’s Mannequin have finally popped out full-length baby, People and Things. While this child of an album sounds like it was born somewhere between 1984 and 1995, the band’s sound hasn’t lost its feel-good, road trip vibe. From the first track, “Racing Thoughts” to the second, “Release Me,” and through the third, “Television,” the band bridges a couple of decades with happy chord progressions, catchy staccato piano riffs, and U2 digital delay guitar leads.
Some say that an album needs to find a sound and stick with it. Not to say that Jack’s Mannequin doesn’t do this in some sense, there’s something to be said for taking a listener on a musical journey. The first three tracks to do this seamlessly. Singer, Andrew McMahon, has a quirky roughness to his voice that keeps People and Things from becoming a young girl/mom album. But for those who have an affinity for McMahon’s pop-punkishness in Something Corporate, there may be some auditory adjusting to do.
McMahon’s more soulful side is showcased in “Amy I,” the fourth track on the full-length. Lyrically, there’s a coldness – “North came South at the tops of the trees. // Another long winter; trying to fight this freeze” – while melodically there’s a warmth. The vocals, both lead and backup, could work alone with McMahon’s piano progression. But the simplicity of Jay McMillan’s in-the-pocket drum technique and Bobby Anderson’s guitar riffs really make for the “road trip” nature of the song and the first half of the album.
For the most part, People and Things seems to cast a warm, orange glow over the eardrums of its listeners. “People Running,” perhaps one of the best songs on the record, follows suit. Despite sounding like a Boy Meets World theme song, the band succeeds in layering quality musicianship and to-the-point lyrics – “You take your girlfriend to a drug deal, fall in love // And now she wears a diamond ring.” Despite the specificity of most of the album’s lyrics, they flow like a summer love story.
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