Outland Live

95 Liberty Street
(614) 744-0100

$12 advance / $14 day of show
All ages

We Were Promised Jetpacks
http://www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks

When a band’s debut album is both impressive and hugely successful, it’s not often that their sophomore effort makes it seem almost average in comparison. But In The Pit Of The Stomach – We Were Promised Jetpacks’ grand, accomplished follow-up to 2009’s These Four Walls – is precisely this rare exception.

We Were Promised Jetpacks spent 2009 and 2010 touring tirelessly on their debut, including a run with Frightened Rabbit and shows supporting Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club; the band’s second set of US appearances, their first headlining tour, sold out across the board; and they closed out 2010 supporting pop-punk legends Jimmy Eat World on a huge sold-out theater tour.

Armed with the confidence of all that touring, a batch of new, road-tested songs, and a muscular vision for a new record, the band decamped to Sigur Rós’s studio retreat in the frozen wilds of Iceland.

Explains singer Adam Thompson: “We recorded the debut album in 8 days with one short tour under our belts - this time around we spent a full three weeks in the studio recording with [live sound engineer] Andrew Bush and made an album that both captured the sound of our live show and that is strong start to finish.” Peter Katis (Frightened Rabbit, The National) was also on hand for additional mixing and production.

The result, In The Pit Of The Stomach, is a huge leap forward from their debut – full of prickly ambition and grand-scale vision, sure, but with no shortage of the hooks and personal engagement that have earned their debut – and, indeed, their powerful, wrenching live shows – such a wide and devoted following.

From the thundering first attack of lead-off track “Circles & Squares,” to the album’s first single, the dark, driving anthem “Medicine”, to slow-burning, triumphant “Sore Thumb” and the whip-smart, angular “Human Error” – In The Pit Of The Stomach is a fiery, atmospheric listen.

With their sophomore LP, We Were Promised Jetpacks have transcended even the very high expectations created by their beloved debut and subsequent tireless, much-buzzed touring; In The Pit Of The Stomach is, quite simply, a brilliant achievement from this young, exceptional group.

Outland Live

95 Liberty Street
(614) 744-0100

$10 advance / $14 day of show
All Ages

Cloud Nothings
http://www.myspace.com/cloudnothings

It’s been a crazy year for Cloud Nothings since they burst onto the music scene last winter. At the time main man Dylan Baldi was eighteen, living at home, and making lo-fi indie rock on a crappy computer in his parent’s suburban basement outside Cleveland. Since then, Cloud Nothings has released an EP and a handful of singles, and the band has put a few North American tours under its belt. With all the internet notoriety and their recent signing with Carpark, Cloud Nothings are now able to record somewhere besides the basement. For a producer, Dylan chose Baltimore’s Chester Gwazda, known for his work with Dan Deacon and Future Islands. Recorded this past August in a warehouse studio in Baltimore’s famed Copycat Building (home to the original Wham City and many of the city’s best musicians and artists), the self-titled Cloud Nothings album shines through with a crispness and boldness that Dylan has always envisioned. The songs now sound as they do live: full of energy, precision, and catchy bits. Dylan plays all the instruments on the album, but this time without the lo-fi scuzz. The excitement and emotion are practically jumping off the grooves.

Ace of Cups

2619 N. High St.
(614) 262-6001

$7 advance / $7 day of show

21+

Night Beats
http://www.troubleinmindrecs.com/bands/nightbeats.html

Any number of bands cite 60’s Texas psych as an influence, but rarely does a group actually capture what made those bands special. Following their debut EP also on Trouble In Mind, The Night Beats have expanded on the bedroom immediacy of their first recordings to create an LP that perfectly captures and modernizes the hallucinogenic and exhilaratingly demonic aura of bands like The 13th Floor Elevators and Golden Dawn. With blazing guitar work and a razor sharp rhythm section Danny Lee Blackwell and company mutate conventional chords & progressions into a mind-blowing sonic sprawl. The record reels you in with 2-3 minute pop songs like ‘Ain’t Dumbo’ and ‘Dial 666′, forging a landscape that then throws you into a chaotic journey of jams a’la ‘Dewayne’s Drone’ and ‘Little War in the Midwest’ that bend and meander but never overstay their welcome. Tune in, turn on, & drop that needle on this record! The first press of this LP is on randomly-mixed vinyl & includes a download code!

Skully’s Music Diner

1151 N. High Street
(614) 291-8856

$10 advance / $12 day of show

18+ / $3 surcharge for patrons under 21

Fanfarlo
http://www.fanfarlo.com/

“Rooms Filled With Light was a phrase I found in an old notebook,” says Fanfarlo’s singer and songwriter Simon Balthazar of the title to the band’s second album. “To me it summed something up, creation, not creation of the world, but what we do as people. It seems like creating rooms and filling them with light is a very modern, fundamental human activity, creating little worlds. It resonates with the whole experience of making art or music.”

The follow-up to Fanfarlo’s 2009 debut album Reservoir was recorded by Ben H Allen (Deerhunter, Animal Collective) during a six week session at Bryn Derwen, a studio located in a remote former slate quarry in Wales. Simon paints a picture of an idyllic time of days spent recording and experimenting, followed by communal meals slow cooked on an Aga, and evenings watching early cinema. A day off hiking in the mountains of Snowdonia “felt like Highlander”, there were birthday chants and weird rituals, such as attacking cake with meat cleavers on the mixing desk. It’s the sort of picture, one too rare these days, that you’ll find in any number of rock biographies: artists free to live their music for days and weeks at a time.

There, the strikingly different characters that make up Fanfarlo coalesced around the songs Simon had sketched out on acoustic guitar or drum machine at home. He enthuses about the chemistry of these five individuals: “I’m a Swedish country boy with all these hippy ideas about the world and the Universal One. Cathy [Lucas] grew up in Brussels, Justin [Finch] comes from Kent and went clubbing lots in London when he was younger, and Leon [Beckenham] is more of a classical player, Amos [Memon] is half Pakistani and grew up in Abu Dhabi. He had to clandestinely learn to play the drums when he was house-sitting for neighbours.

Their shared musical inspirations that shaped Rooms Filled With Light seem to stem as much from the spirit of an era as specifics in sound. “For me, an amazing moment in pop history was the late 70s spilling over into the early 80s, artists who were taking the idea of making pop music and songs and saying ‘let’s see where we can take this’, people like David Bowie, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, or Scott Walker,” says Simon. Minimalist composers Steve Reich and Phillip Glass, described as “real heroes” of Fanfarlo, also left their mark. “We were looking for a new way of using acoustic and orchestral instruments, and started talking about it, saying ‘wouldn’t it be cool if we had a contrapunto hammering, how can we use violins and drums in a new way?”

These new textures allowed Fanfarlo to create a melodic reflection of the lyrical subject of their songs. So on recent single and album opener ‘Replicate’, the dance of the pipes reflects the subject matter, the mutation of a virus under a microscope. “I was using imagery from viruses replicating,” says Simon of his lyrics to the track, “My sister is a microbiologist and works with vaccines, and I talk to her about her work a lot. Viruses are really fascinating, because they’re sort of alive but they’re not.”

In a voice that sounds increasingly confident, with hints of David Sylvian or Bowie, Simon’s lyrics explore themes inspired by his extensive reading, from Czech poet and scientist Miroslav Holub to Camus and American poet Kenneth Patchen. “Most of what I write tends to be these slightly odd meditations on a subject,” says Simon. “The overarching subject on this record comes from a place of ‘where the fuck are we and how did we get here?’ looking at what a weird place the world is. I want music to be about big ideas; I want people to write songs about quantum mechanics, far away galaxies and the inside of the earth. I don’t get why people want to write songs about relationships, and I very rarely find love songs interesting.” So Rooms Filled With Light has ‘Tunguska’, a saxophone-led track with a fine rhythmic swing that is actually about the 1908 incident when a comet exploded just above the ground in Siberia, flattening the forest for miles around. It is written, says Simon, from “the perspective of someone who’s a wholehearted supported of this comet, a doomsday aficionado.” ‘Bones’ is a nod to the art of the murder ballad, and sung about “someone who finds meaning in modern life by the fame of having your name in the headlines, and the only way he can find that fame is by killing people.”

Rooms Filled With Light is an album of brilliant contrast, chamber pop with melodies as infectious as the viruses that are the subject of ‘Replicate’ holding up bold and bright lyrics and ideas. What’s the secret to making it hold together? “Something that often happens when we arrange the songs,” Simon explains; “they start stark and bedroomy with dark sentiments, but with quite pleasant melodies. When we get together and play them as a band they bloom, and become more uplifting on the surface.” The best pop music ought to draw you in, charm with sweet and beguiling melody and then, when you’re least expect it, turn on you. As Balthazar says, with a laugh, “it should pull the rug out from under your feet.”

Skully’s Music Diner

1151 N. High Street
(614) 291-8856

$13 adv / $15 day of show
18+ / Under 21 pay $3 surcharge at door

Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires
http://thecharlesbradley.com/

Charles Bradley is no stranger to hard times. Born in Gainesville, Florida in 1948 and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Charles spent the better part of his childhood living on the streets. One of the more optimistic moments of his childhood came in 1962, when his sister took him to see James Brown at The Apollo. Brown’s energy formed a lasting impression on Charles. He went home and immediately began practicing microphone tricks with a broom attached to a string, imitating the Godfather’s every move. With his newfound inspiration came an urgent desire to get off the streets and make something of himself.

Charles spent over 20 years in California, making his living as a chef, all the while playing music on the side. He had no regular band, but he played pick-up gigs when they came along and sat in on recording sessions to feed his musical cravings. Things seemed to be looking up for Charles, but just as he was about to put a down payment on his first house, he was laid-off from his job of 17 years. Being fired forced him to re-evaluate his life out west. Ultimately, he decided to come home to Bushwick, Brooklyn to be with his family again. Charles took every penny he had saved, loaded up a truck with the musical equipment he collected over the years, and drove back to New York. At this point, he was fed up with the tribulations of being a chef and took up work as a handyman to allow himself the flexibility to pursue his musical career.

Charles was down and out when Gabriel Roth of Daptone Records happened upon him performing his Black Velvet act at the Tarheel Lounge in Bedstuy. Roth recognized his raw talent and directly brought him into the Daptone “House of Soul” Studios for a session with the Sugarman 3. “Take It As It Comes” was Charles’ first single on Daptone and it proved him as a worthy vocalist. Roth eventually brought Charles out to Staten Island to see Dirt Rifle and the Bullets, a young funk band playing James Brown and Meters influenced songs. Thomas Brenneck, songwriter and guitarist for the Bullets, hit it off with Charles and they began working together. They released two singles on Daptone under the name “Charles Bradley and the Bullets,” but the Bullets soon dismantled in order to form the afrobeat influenced Budos Band.

However, Brenneck knew that Charles had something more to give and after moving to Bushwick himself, he and Charles reunited. In time, they became close friends and Charles confided his life story in Brenneck. The young producer was moved when he heard Charles tell the painful story of his brother’s death. Brenneck said, “Charles, we gotta put that story to music.” Brenneck had put together a small bedroom studio and was working on instrumentals with a new group soon to be named Menahan Street Band. His new sound was the perfect compliment for the heartfelt and troubled lyrics that sprang from Charles’ story. Brenneck had just launched Dunham Records, a division of Daptone, and would release Charles’ “The World (Is Going Up In Flames)” and “Heartaches and Pain” as its second single. A departure from his Black Velvet act, the songs showed a new side of Charles as a compelling artist in his own right and proved to be a great success. Many late night writing and recording sessions later, he and Brenneck completed their first full-length record, No Time For Dreaming. Charles always knew he was born to entertain, but in the making of this record he discovered a proclivity for songwriting as well.

The record was a labor of love for both Charles and Brenneck. After years of working together, No Time for Dreaming is due for international release on Dunham Records. In the meantime, Charles has been touring with The Menahan Street Band and honing his passion as a singer and an entertainer. If you know Charles today, then you know one of the most loving, humble, honest and genuine human beings you will ever know. Charles Bradley spent most of his life dreaming for a better one, and now there is no more time for dreaming, just time for singing, dancing and loving.

Kobo

2590 North High Street
(614) 784-0477

$5
$2 surcharge for under 21

He’s My Brother She’s My Sister
http://www.hesmybrothershesmysister.com/

He’s My Brother She’s My Sister seem to invite a broad range of colorful words to describe their music and performances: “flamboyant folk,” “psych-acoustic,” “estranged and glamorous” and “vaudeville-y,” with “alleyway rhythms,” and “earthy swagger.” No doubt this is due to their mélange of musical styles, both modern and antique; their eccentric attire and sense of expression, that is both sincere and theatrical; and, their unique instrumentation, which includes a rhythm section bolstered by a tap dancer.

Brother and sister Robert Kolar and Rachel Kolar split vocal duties, with Robert on guitar and kick drum and Rachel on tambourine. Their voices range from boisterous to introspective, from breezy to emotive. Lauren Brown adds full-body percussion with her fluid tap-dancing. Oliver Newell adds stand up bass with joyous flair. Aaron Robinson plays lead guitar on a lap slide, veering from nuanced psychedelica to American roots riffs. And Satya Bhabha adds unconventional cello playing which is at times sweeping, and at other times bellows like a husky fiddle.

The band’s infectious rhythms and high energy make the sounds come alive and cause even uninitiated crowds to erupt in dance. Their songs ring like pop classics in a modern framework. It is a recipe that has quickly gained the band a devoted following in their hometown of Echo Park and the surrounding LA area, and that following has spread to every town the band visits.

Skully’s Music Diner

1151 N. High Street
(614) 291-8856

$13 advance / $15 day of show

Los Campesinos!
http://www.loscampesinos.com/

A lot can happen in the course of two years. People walk out of your life, people special to you – people it’s difficult to imagine your world without. Sometimes, they come back. But when they do, they’re not who they once were. Soft features have chiselled. That teenage flush around the cheeks has faded. And suddenly, that ghost that mooched around inside your head is gone, replaced by something, somebody new.

‘Hello Sadness’ is the fourth record by Los Campesinos!, and if 2009’s ‘Romance Is Boring’ marked a giant step on from their genesis – seven kids and a glockenspiel, ricocheting off the four walls of a Cardiff rehearsal room – ‘Hello Sadness’ constitutes another step, and a turn of the corner. Yes, these 10 tracks cover what we are coming to recognise as core Los Campesinos! concerns – love, loss, heartbreak, football (always football). But this is a record that’s wiser and more focused than its predecessors, confident in its abilities and clear in its aims.

“It feels like we’ve done all our growing up while in this band,” says vocalist Gareth Campesinos! “Not like we’re Hanson, or anything. But we’ve been Los Campesinos! since finishing university, and in that time we’ve all changed as people massively. That’s something we want to put across in the music.”

“We’ve learned what there’s room for, sonically,” adds guitarist/songwriter Tom Campesinos! “You start off quite idealistic about what you can actually fit into a song, everything fighting against everything else, and that’s fine, it suited those songs. But now it’s like everything is pulling towards the same goal. The idea was to make the most coherent, direct record we can.”

Initial plans to record at Manic Street Preachers’ Faster studios in Cardiff fell by the wayside when a couple of European shows opened up a new possibility: four weeks at Music Lan, a recording studio in Girona, overlooking the Pyrenees. The Los Campesinos! line-up had undergone a couple of reshuffles since the recording of ‘Romance Is Boring’, Kim Campesinos! joining on backing vocals and keys, Jason Campesinos! taking the drumstool and long-time compadre Rob Taylor – aka Sparky Deathcap – giving up his surname to join LC! in what Tom describes as “the Bob Nastanovich role”, singing backing vocals and juggling instruments as required. The Spanish countryside, so far from Cardiff with all its myriad distractions, proved the perfect place to rekindle the Campesinos! spirit, and the arrival of producer John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Wu Tang Clan), a constant with the band since the recording of ‘We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed’, closed the circle. “There was this real team ethic,” says Tom. “It felt like everyone came together.”

On first listen, ‘Hello Sadness’ might sound like a less fraught album than its predecessors. Gone is the hypertense, panic-attack rattle that characterised ‘We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed’, and the melancholy wallow that you heard in corners of ‘Romance Is Boring’ is in short supply. Play it more, though, and you hear an emotion that comes from somewhere softer, deeper, and – dare we say it – more authentic. Two weeks before recording, Gareth Campesinos! split up with his girlfriend, and, he says, “everything written before then became void.”

Naturally, then, he began writing afresh. Many past Los Campesinos! songs have wrestled with matters of the heart, and often played dirty in the process. But songs like ‘Baby I Got The Death Rattle and ‘Light Leaves, Dark Sees Pt II’ come from a raw, uncertain place that, in their confusion of emotions, feel authentic. “There is anger, upset in them – but still a sense of being very much being in love, of still caring for the person,” says Gareth. It’s a confessional feel that’s intensified in places by whispers of incidental sound – the rattle of rain, distant radio, the hiss of room mics – and snatches of Dictaphone, captured by Gareth in a lonely or introspective moment.

While written at pace, ‘Hello Sadness’ finds Gareth’s lyrics reaching new levels of poetic articulacy. A strange menagerie of creatures – blackbirds, horses, woodworm – stalk and crawl the verses, and the landscape of the human form remains a preoccupation. On the title track, he charts the lines of a lover’s body – “The space between your navel/And your waist band was the ice/Where two fingers pirouette” – but any tenderness is unwanted, unrequited. On ‘Life Is A Long Time’, meanwhile, a catalogue of arguments manifest physically, in creases and wrinkles. “Aging is definitely in mind,” says Gareth. “I think a lot of people still think of us in this kind of youthful sense, but we’re in this weird place in our mid-twenties where you start to think like a grown-up. I feel more 30 than 20, but you’re not really allowed to – everyone wants to tell you how you’re still so young. The record in general is about this weird state of limbo – being in a band is an incredible privilege, but it can make it hard to find your place in the world.”

All this, though, in a clutch of songs that are more accessible and more direct than anything that’s come before. Current musical preoccupations include such reliably lo-fi names as Bruce Springsteen, R&B smoothie The-Dream, and Paul Heaton of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, who, says Gareth, “really inspired me to try to sing more, rather than shout or yelp, to really work on melodies.”

At just 10 songs and 40 minutes, ‘Hello Sadness’ is perhaps the first Los Campesinos! album that sounds lean and pruned, indulgence shorn away and filler ruthlessly excised. Aiding the process of making a coherent album is the band’s extra-curricular hobby, Heat Rash – a quarterly edition zine-and-music bundle, which provides a home for the band’s more errant musical ideas that wouldn’t fit smoothly into the continuity of an album. Heat Rash also articulates something that’s right at the heart of Los Campesinos! – the idea of a manner of communication with the group’s fans that stretches beyond the songs themselves, be it visual, online, or simply a conversation over the merch table.

“I think that’s one of the best things about being in Los Campesinos!” says Gareth. “How open people who like our band are with us, how willing they are to speak to us and be involved.” ‘Hello Sadness’ marks another chapter in this communication. The youngsters that made ‘You! Me! Dancing!’ are long gone.

The band they’ve grown into, though, are something to fall for all over again.

Ace of Cups

2619 N. High St.
(614) 262-6001

$13
21+

!!!
http://www.chkchkchk.net

Following a titillating tour in summer ‘95 between Popesmashers and Black Liquorice, !!! officially formed upon their return at one of the famously ultra-hot, all-night Sacramento, CA dance parties. The tour had provided the attendees - and a few of the band members - with plenty to think about. Black Liquorice came with disco covers without the kitsch, and Popesmashers followed with loud, propulsive noise. The combination of these styles seemed odd to some, but it worked in the most primal sense, leading the aforementioned band members and others to wonder - Why NOT feel this? All the fucking time.

The eight members of !!! had grown up playing various breeds of punk and experimental music (!!! frontman Nic was vocalist for the infamous hardcore band, Yah Mos), and increasingly found themselves wanting to play music in the vein of the stuff they were dancing to. Which is not to say !!! are a punk band, nor a funk band, for that matter. They are both. And neither.

The !!! symbol was chosen, rather than a conventional band name, because it reflects the excitement shared by the band members, mixed with an intense desire to shake things up. They have toured the U.S. repeatedly, amassing a sizeable following thanks to their cathartic live shows. The years spent train-hopping, hitch-hiking and touring DIY style have forged a desire to take !!! everywhere, fast.

!!! shares three of its members with Out Hud, including Tyler Pope, who is also in LCD Soundsystem. !!! has released a 12″ split EP with Out Hud, as well as a seven-inch on Hopscotch called “Dis-ease”. A self-titled debut came out on GSL in 2000, which included the nine minute manifesto, “There’s No Fucking Rules, Dude” - an exhortation to forget your worries and just shake your ass… dude. Got it?

!!! is John Pugh (drums), Nic Offer (vocals), Allan Wilson (percussion, horns), Mario Andreoni (guitar), Tyler Pope (guitar, keys), Justin Vandervolgen (bass, sound engineering tweaks), Dan Gorman (percussion, horns), and Jason Racine (percussion).

Kishi Bashi
http://www.kishibashi.com

Having collaborated and toured with indie strangelings of Montreal, Regina Spektor, and Sondre Lerche, singer, violinist, and composer, K Ishibashi (aka Kishi Bashi), embarks on a epic orchestral solo project. His solo live show is a dazzling array of looping and vocal/violin gymnastics. K is also singer of the NYC synth rock band Jupiter One.

Ravari Room

2657 N. High Street
(614) 263-4058

$5
21+

Fort Wilson Riot
http://www.fortwilsonriot.com/

As they tumble out of the back of a maroon minivan into clubs, bars, living rooms and festivals across America, Fort Wilson Riot are liable to become a favorite local band, no matter where you live. Splitting their time between unstoppable touring and incessant recording, the Minneapolis-based duo of Amy Hager and Jacob Mullis have no shortness of ambition. In their time as a band they have recorded an indie-rock opera, Idigaragua, and performed it with a full cast of actors and dancers, produced and recorded their full length follow-up,Predator/Prey, and dropped singles, remixes and compilations.

Their ambition doesn’t just include themselves, they actively work to promote other bands who become friends and collaborators on the road. Amy & Jacob will often go out with bands who are perhaps making their first attempts at a tour and Fort Wilson Riot has released several of the Wild-Eyed Scientist mixes to spread the word about the great music and musicians they find all across the country and the world!

In their own music, Fort Wilson Riot isn’t just happy to let it stay the same either. Yes, they make great harmonies, with Amy’s soprano lifting and floating over Jacob’s growl and yelp, but there is nothing easily classifiable about the rest of their sound. From the crashing guitars and keys, to the blasting uplift of trumpet and harmonica lines to the dancing thump of electronic drums, Fort Wilson Riot are an energy that grabs a hold of you and takes you on a journey. The music doesn’t let up, and wherever they are, neither do Fort Wilson Riot.

The Town Monster
http://thetownmonster.com/

Two years ago, multi-instrumentalists Nathan Photos, Mike Rana and Matt Grady retired their much-loved band Igby and reformed as the sonically diverse Town Monster. Although guitars still figure in the Town Monster’s sound, synthesizers and computers are the dominant feature in the band’s arsenal, along with a schizophonic genre approach. The Town Monster goes from gritty Garage Rock accomplished with synths to horror movie soundtrack thematics to classic ’80s Synth Pop with barely a breath or a blink. They’ve been perpetually busy since releasing their debut, Autumn People, last year, expanding to a quartet (Mike Rana departed, James Allison and Brad Wilson joined), opening for Weezer and recording monthly EPs; their song “One Thousand Wolves” made the Top 5 requested songs on Columbus’ CD101. Can synth bands have mosh pits? Bet your ass.

Ace of Cups

2619 N. High St.
(614) 262-6001

$7.00
21 and over

The Ganglians
http://www.facebook.com/ganglians

Ganglians, according to an interview, was not named in reference to ganglion, a type of cyst that forms on or around the wrist; it was, instead, the best portmanteau possible from combining “gang” with “aliens.” If that revelation makes the band seem less mysterious, a spin through the Sacramento psychedelic trio’s new record should complicate matters. Produced by fellow West Coast noisemaker and occasional Dirty Projectors collaborator Robby Moncrieff, Still Living deals in brash dynamics, uneven instrumentation and unusual aural dualities.

Take, for example, “Jungle,” which sounds like an otherworldly collaboration between Thee Oh Sees and Fleet Foxes. It’s about as jarring as one would expect, with a bulging guitar chord bookending the verses and filling the space left open by the easy percussion. Though perhaps less so than other tracks on the album, the song conveys the breezy warmth of surf-pop from the 1960s, an era in which feathery choral arrangements were still popular with the kids. Those arrangements appear in full during “Jungle,” floating over the shimmying melody and providing a little relief from the abrasiveness that dominates elsewhere.