Touting themselves as the “best rock-reggae this side of the Chicago River” Midwestern movers and shakers, Jackpot Donnie, will be gracing the fine city of Chicago with the release of their second full-length album, New Mode on March 27th, with a corresponding release show at The Cubby Bear. A band that has made the stylistic quirks of their genre their own, Jackpot Donnie delivers all the bouncy bass, funky fills, and soulful singing one would expect.
New Mode kicks off with a listener friendly track for those who may just be getting into JD for the first time, complete with a “sounds familiar but can’t quite put your finger on” sort of melody and new wave-esque synth subtly woven between the bouncing bass. The band’s penchant for reggae is in full swing in the next track, ‘Room to Improve’ which grooves and flows just the way it should, but has a little rock break with the chorus interjecting “I just won’t do this again” before going back into its smooth rhythms.
Following that same path to reggae are songs like ‘Oblivious Sunday’ and title track ‘New Mode’. While the album as a whole has that same reggae influence, certain tracks diverge into other genres such as ‘Renegade Revolutionary’ with its rockabilly inspired sound, as well as the gravelly belting found in ‘Daybreak’ and ‘Ponzi’. The former of these songs also has a float-y guitar riff and power display of pipes near its end worth giving kudos to. Its in songs that rock a littler harder that we find our front man sounding a bit like Eddie Vedder, but minus that back of the throat in audibility the Pearl Jam singer is known for. Instead, Matt Love’s voice comes across crystal clear and crisply.
One thing we noticed about New Mode is that the album essentially is one eight track long decrescendo; it’s pace starts out buoyant and bouncy then slowly trickles down to lazily float to its finish. At first listen this felt like a weak ending, but after some consideration we see the merit in the chill down New Mode weans its listener into. As a whole we believe that fans of this four piece will be anything but disappointed, and we have a feeling Jackpot Donnie might create a few new alterna-reggae fans with this full-length.
