Greetings, dearest reader and all music fans. Let’s welcome DropJaw Jacobites to our digital space. This band released their debut album Rogue Taxidermy on June 14th. Let me tell you more about this jaw-dropping album.

Entering the world of DropJaw Jacobites’ Rogue Taxidermy is like stepping into a surreal carnival of sound and emotion. This ten-song collection is a daring exploration of musical boundaries, blending elements of blues, art rock, and avant-garde experimentation. The band’s creative prowess and willingness to confront deep existential themes make this album a unique experience that challenges and rewards the listener in equal measure. Prepare for a journey that is as unsettling as it is mesmerizing, as Rogue Taxidermy invites you to explore the dark, beautiful, and often bizarre corners of the human condition.

The album’s opening song is an epic, multi-part rollercoaster ride called “Sole of Amen,” a title hinting at Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Soul of a Man.’ The song is a nod to the blues men and women of the early 20th century and what their stranded ghosts might have to tell us. The opening verses mimic the sound associated with chain gang workers hitting their pickaxes against the rocks. I instantly connected it to the dwarfs in Disney’s Snow White and the sounds their pickaxes make when they go to work, but believe me when I say this song is no Disney tale; it leans into the darker aspects of rock music. This song will most definitely attract people who are impressed by out-of-the-box thinking and fierce creativity. The song raises the veil for listeners to the kind of music to expect going in.

“Phlegm” is the title of the next track. Fear not if you were shaken by the first song (as you should be; it was an avant-garde experience) because this short and energetic track serves as a great buffer between the first song and the next.

Next is the song called “Pawn.” Now, this song right here will get you thinking about mortality and the cycle of life and death. The persona feels like a pawn when it comes to life and death and has no control over what happens to him. The instrumentation moves between charged and electrifying until it fades away, and it will blow you away completely.

“Ecclesiastes (is a 12-letter word)” is the next song on the album. The song describes a world where everyone feels abandoned by God after crying out and receiving no form of help, where what humanity has left is the beauty that permeates everything—the world around us, the void we’re facing, and the self-observing all that beauty. The song details a place where there is a complete void of faith, done with underlying tribal clangs impregnating industrial beats building an atmosphere equally menacing and sublime. This song, if you let it, will transform you and leave you breathless.

“Stream of Coitusness” is the title of the next song. By the title, this song looks like it’s essentially about sex, and maybe it is, but it’s also a celebration of the vibes, the idiom, and the bawdiness of old-timey blues. The song has got groove, it’s got funk, and breathes new life into the album, showing DropJaw Jacobites’ lighter and playful side.

“Pratityasamutpada Blues” is the album’s next song. The song may have a title that is hard to pronounce, but its message is actually quite simple yet profound. The song states that no one is actually an independent individual, as we are all made up of and are irrevocably tied to the rest of humanity. Amid the woody clangs and the hoarse Diddley-bo gurgling shots of moonshine distortion, this song testifies that all is hopelessly one, and no one is truly an individual—a plausible notion and message I applaud the band for sharing with us.

The next song is called “Shave ‘Em Dry.” This is a cover song and a very liberal adaptation of Blues singer Lucille Bogan’s 1935 version of Ma Rainey’s song “Shave ‘Em Dry.” The band didn’t write the shocking lyrics; Lucille Bogan (probably) did. It’s arguably the dirtiest, most explicit blues song of that era, and a middle finger to the conservative American South of the ’30s, where things were done a certain way. It’s just genius that the band decided to cover this song, which was infamous during that time period. Musically, this song is a wild ride that shifts between male and female vocalists.

Next is the song “Palsied Moons.” This song explores being radically passive and disconnected, going through the motions as time and life go by—something that happens often. But it does so from a critical standpoint, wondering how the rest of humanity is engaged or seamlessly plugged into life’s Sisyphean reality. It’s a great feeling to know that someone out there experiences the same feelings as you, to be seen, and the band deserves a standing ovation for this song.

The instrumental piece “Pediculosis Pubis” is a change of pace in the album that is welcomed wholeheartedly. Eerie theremin, whispers, and electronic sounds mesh with different guitar sounds over a driving rock beat. The song has a lot of moving parts in regard to instrumentation, and though you hear all these sounds, it’s not overdone or too in-your-face. It’s just right and done so tastefully.

“Dirge” is the title of the last song on the album. The song is a personal tribute the band made to honor the memory of a special man they met in their journeys named Gennady Kleinerman. May he rest in peace. True to its name, “Dirge” has a dark and heavy atmosphere and a haunting choir. The band’s tribute to Mr. Kleinerman will surely have made him proud. This fantastic song concludes Rogue Taxidermy.

I have been shaken to the very core by this album. As far as debut albums go, this one really takes the cake. The songs are highly profound. If you listen and scratch the cerebral, mind-bending surface, you will get to the gooey and soft center and the very heart of the band. The band is extremely talented and will hopefully carve their own niche in the music industry.

Stream the “Rouge Taxidermy” album on Spotify

Stream the “Rogue Taxidermy” album on Spotify

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