Jungle by Jungle
by Lana Fleischli
Jungle is a band that I haven’t really listened to recently, but that I did listen to when I was ten. I was a big fan of the four songs that I knew. My mom and I pronounced their song “Busy Earnin’' as the perfect “backup” song. By “backup” I mean backing out of a driveway or just backing up in a car in general! That sentiment still rings true! Over time, Jungle fell off my radar until October of 2021.
My mom took me to see Jungle at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and it blew my mind. Let me put it this way: in a seated theater of 6,000 people, I could not see one person who was sitting down. The stage was so elegant, and there was just enough going on so that the effects and decor complimented the music rather than overtaking it. I had seen Jungle before at Coachella when I was ten, but somehow I forgot that there are a lot of people in that band, and most of them sing, which is amazing because their voices blend so well that you can’t really tell that there are at least four people singing at once!
The album titled Jungle, is a standout. Although there is no consistent storyline, the music tells a story in itself. Jungle was able to tie songs from the beginning to songs at the end to give it a full circle feel. “Accelerate” and “Julia” both utilized a powerful intonation in each song. “Accelerate” is the second song on the album, and the band sings a riff at the end of the chorus. It is subtle, but when you hear how they sing the name “Julia” in the song of the same name, the melodic riff reappears. Personally, I thought that the subtle touch of tying in the songs was very impactful and tied early songs to later songs on the record very well. The same goes for “Time” and “Lucky I Got What I Want.” Both songs use clicking sounds, and it is as if the songs pay homage to each other in a way.
I was surprised by “Smoking Pixels” as it was the one soley instrumental song on the album, placing it in the middle of the record. I wondered why the band chose that placement as I felt like it sent a message. I feel like making an instrumental track is very powerful and difficult if the artists generally use lyrics because lyrics are what the music is complementing, and vocals generally stand out. I really liked “Smoking Pixels” because it was pretty relaxing while still maintaining a lot of layers.
The standout songs on the album for me were “Busy Earnin’” because it holds a special place in my heart. “Time” because it is just so much fun to dance to. “Julia” because it just made me happy and made me want to dance. Lastly, “Lucky I Got What I Want” because it is more on the chill side and tied up the album really nicely even though it wasn’t the last song. It kind of held a lot of different elements from the album.
If you want to dance or get groovy, you’ve got to listen to Jungle by Jungle!