Andrew Jackson Jihad -Knife Man Review

Grab your tissue box—this mosh pit is about to get emotional.

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Knife Man (2011) – 7.3 / 10.0

Andrew Jackson Jihad's name sums up their entire ethic—comically overblown with dark undertones. The band switches between folk songs on par with the Mountain Goats and Operation Ivy punk jams. It's about as cohesive as it sounds, though pointing out this fault is fruitless since I think that's what they're going for. Knife Man begins with "The Michael Jordan of Drunk Driving", a heartfelt folk track that last 20 seconds and clashes into "The Gift of the Magi 2: Return of the Magi", which operates as mosh pit fuel. Sample lyrics: "If God doesn't like ugly/Then He doesn't like anybody/So fuck God anyway/God is obsolete/Oh my God thinks my jokes are funny". It's funnier in context, trust me.

Less funny: tracks like "Back Pack" and "No One". The former tells the story of a man finding the corpse of his better half strewn on his couch; the latter is lead singer Sean Bonnette's account of his experiences working in a hospital (or whatever a "human pound" is supposed to be). These are effective, heart-breaking songs, but they are always followed up with upbeat numbers that undermine the strength of the album's most emotional numbers. Granted, this is the band's aesthetic and all of these songs are well-written and performed, but the listener is not given the chance to let any of the discussed concepts sink in too much, which goes against the entire point of including such emotional songs on an album in the first place.

If you're already familiar and used to AJJ's methods, though, you might be able to handle these quirks better than I could. Knife Man is the band's best album to date, and there's plenty of good stuff to be found here. I just wish they had taken steps to make the whole thing go down easier.