Perusing Spotify this summer, I noticed that a band I had seen recently was no longer showing up in my searches. I scrolled through my old radio playlists, finally stumbling across the time period when I could not get enough. Instead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., though, Spotify had changed the name to simply JR JR. I was alarmed and confused. I googled and I googled trying to figure out when and why the name had changed, but hilariously enough, the only articles that appeared were nascar related stories about the band’s name change, and how Dale Earnhardt Jr. was bummed. When a band changes their name from a gimmick to a nickname fans have given them, you’d assume that the style might shift along with the name change. Well, thank goodness that turned out not to be the case.
The sound may have shifted slightly, but their eponymous album released has the classic JR JR tropes and sounds, while also incorporating a number of different musical styles. Though few of the tracks they include on their albums (including the new release) are highly electronic remixes, JR JR often releases dope remixes on soundcloud, so if you’re like me and enjoyed the new album, keep your eyes and ears peeled. https://soundcloud.com/dale-earnhardt-jr-jr/war-zone-absofacto-goldenboyz Back to the album, though.
Released on September 25, 2015, JR JR has it all. I’ll say it. Just listen to Gone. It’s so damn good. The first listen through, the album may not seem like something special, but give it a chance. Caroline, the third track on the album, has that signature JR JR chord progression that reassured me that they wouldn’t stray too far away from what was working so well. The risks they took on this album for the most part were the right ones. Gone and James Dean have been out for a bit, but they’re both such solid songs worth many listens. In the Middle, the fourth song on the album, sounds simultaneously exactly like the band and nothing like anything they’ve released before. You may think that the electro funk beat would clash with the rock aesthetic of the band, album, and even specific song… but it totally works. For My Brother is easy listening as well, but I would go ahead and skip Phillip the Engineer. I think the first half of the album holds together better than the second, there are a few songs that, in my opinion, add little to the album as a whole, but definitely check out Electric Energy. The album even ends so satisfyingly with Listening to Outkast, June 23, 2014.
So, I highly recommend giving the album a listen if you’ve liked anything of theirs in the past or are even a little bit intrigued by the band’s story. Dooooo it.