jhumble/jearnest is a contemplation of male fragility in a morality dogmatrix,
''Glen Schenau Jhumble / Jearnest 7″ (no label)
Thanks heavens for Brisbane’s Glen Schenau. If you’re wondering who that is, fair enough: he’s played in bands like Kitchen’s Floor, Psy Ants, Cured Pink, and Bent (whose 2017 EP Mattress Springs is a Discogs dollar-bin must-have), but I think I like him best when he’s steering the ship entirely. The artwork on this new self-released 7″ is plenty to take in on its own, full of possibly-legible squiggles, with every bare surface hand-printed and a detailed insert cut with special crafting scissors, because why not. I’m already entertained, but the music here is really something else. “Jhumble” somehow utilizes flailing no-wave guitar akin to Arab On Radar as a base, then cuts the tempo in half care of the fumbly drums and plunging bass. And then he makes it some sort of alt-pop blitz by singing like Julian Casablancas over top! It’s giving me visions of an alternate reality where Roxy Music and No New York collided head-on. “Jearnest” is a sinewy post-punk creeper, calling to mind Patois Counselors if they were the most popular buzz-bin clip on MTV circa 1996. At least that’s the case for the first half of the song, before it disassembles into a greasy stain resembling Kilslug after The Killers ran them over with their tour bus. Seems like every Australian band gets their own album without much delay, so I have to ask: where the hell is Glen Schenau’s?!'
-mattk @ yellowgreenred,
" Glen Schenau, “Jhumble” b/w “Jearnest” (self-released)
Glen Schenau is at the forefront of Brisbane’s experimental musical scene; he’s done time in Kitchen’s Floor, Bent and has even self-released a few things under his own name. The solo stuff I’ve checked by him was restless, frantic guitar and bass lines seemingly swimming against the current of his Bryan Ferry crooning. While there’s no denying that it was singular, it never really coalesced for me in the same way that this new 7″ does. That same restlessness is still at play here, obvious from the beginning strumming of “Jhumble,” and Schenau seems to still relish the vocal stylings of Ferry, though his vocals also remind me of some of the alterna-rock radio I was subjected to while working in a warehouse during summers between school. Normally that sort of vocal homage would send me running to the hills, but it really works here: the busy guitar line and the drums lock into an undeniable groove on “Jhumble,” and whatever Glen is singing, the melody is stuck in my head for days. “Jearnest” is my pick, the more difficult foil to “Jhumble”’s pop leanings. The sprightly guitar at the beginning is submerged into this rubbery goo, which eventually takes over the song while a whistle floats in to carry a melody over the tarry pit. Can’t say I’ve ever heard anything like it, but it doesn’t just float along on that claim; this is a highly potent brew served up on both sides of this single. Glen self-released this record and it’s limited to 150 copies; mine came with a hand-written note and drawing, which was a nice touch. High marks all around. I’ve got to echo Matt K.’s sentiments when he reviewed this record: “Seems like every Australian band gets their own album without much delay, so I have to ask: where the hell is Glen Schenau’s?!”
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