In recent years, writers have spilled copious amounts of digital ink discussing how the lines between genres have blurred. I’ve been guilty of it myself. As the argument goes, since people have unfettered access to the history of recorded music, the art they create reflects that wide source material. It definitely helps that it’s easier than ever before for people to both make and distribute their music.
“If it sounds good, do it!” is a prevailing mantra of such a worldview.
The problem with that line of reasoning is that artists have been borrowing from each other forever. In fact, the origins of rock music in the 1950s can be described as a fusion of country music and R&B. Seeing what other people are doing outside your immediate milieu and adapting to yours is literally how any form of art evolves. Music has proven most susceptible to those impulses, and that’s a good thing. While you can use your favorite genre as the foundation of what you do, but you should expand your horizons to see where it takes you.
That is the beauty of what Jackson+Sellers has created.
Breaking Point showcases a powerful duo combining groovy garage rock with a big country feel to create ripping music. Released on ANTI-, this ten-song album blends snarling guitars, gorgeous vocals, and thoughtful arrangements. It’s as if Pistol Annies went on tour with Sturgill Simpson’s backing band while Neko Case serves as their stylistic lodestar.
Jade Jackson and Aubrie Sellers know when to redline their musical engine and when to throttle down for textural diversity. The gritty guitars have been soaked in a muddy distortion that’s almost distracting. Thankfully, they’re rescued from drowning by crisp execution and being paired with a thick bass guitar tone. The women’s voices exude confidence and strength, especially when they leave unison behind for sublime harmonies.
Obvious rock tropes are cool, but enlightened reinvention is even cooler.
A delicious blend of overdrive and clean effects serves as the sonic hallmark of this album. The women temper their pacing and dynamics to provide the listener with a fantastic array of barn-burners and ballads. People might love the over-the-top blues rock, but the murder ballad vibes of the earthier folk tunes evince real skill.
“The Devil is an Angel” opens the album by immediately kicking you in the teeth with biting lead guitar and lush harmonies. Sellers and Jackson channel primal emotions with the lines, “I don’t mean to doubt your sincere intent, but underneath there’s a look about something mean and malevolent.” With “As You Run,” the pacing slows to a brooding simmer as the two women plead with a lover who’s walking away.
The dreamy Americana of “Fair Weather” swirls with emotion. Especially the forlorn passion of a lyric like “Long as the sun is shining, we’ll be a silver lining.” On “The Wild One,” the duo flips the lonesome flair of the previous few songs with swaggering sentiments such as “I’m a touched-up freak on a winning streak. Gonna own this town, you can’t hold me down.”
Breaking Point just sounds good.
Jackson+Sellers actively resists making everything about the delectable guitar crunch. Instead, they place their sumptuous voices at center stage, insert searing guitars, and anchor the project with a robust rhythm section. I found their keen ability to mix up their influences and ideas into fresh shapes to be most appealing.
How a talented artist uses the core elements of a genre or three will always be more important than what those genres might be. By balancing aggressive tunes with introspective ones with a deft and determined hand, Jackson+Sellers reveal themselves to be compelling musicians with a big future.