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Is Jeff the brotherhood ‘selling-out’ by signing with Warner?
Indie | Monday 23rd July 2012 | Osh
‘Jeff the brotherhood’, the two-piece indie-rock band consisting of brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, have just released their seventh studio album ‘Hypnotic Nights’. ‘Hypnotic Nights’ is the bands second album with Warner Brothers, who they signed with back in 2011. The band released their critically acclaimed albums ‘Heavy Days’, back in 2009 and ‘We are the champions’, in 2011, on their own label Infinity Cat Records.
Even though JTB have retained their long-term relationship with Infinity Cat Records, they have recently been accused, by their very own die-hard fans, of selling-out by signing with a major label. JTB’s PR has claimed that the deal with Warner will give the band a wider distribution whilst JTB is certain to have ‘substantial creative control’.
Whether the move to Warner was good for the band in the long term is still to be seen as ‘Hypnotic Nights’ received decent, but not amazing, reviews. Rolling Stone described it as having “good-natured sense of slacker irony” and being able to “perfectly [split] the difference between homage and satire” whilst All Music Guide stated that “if [Hypnotic Nights] isn’t able to kick off your summer, nothing will”. However the Washington Post had a very different view about the new album. They remarked that the album has been “scrubbed so thoroughly that any real sense of personality has been washed away” and that “The album’s highlights (“Sixpack,” “Hypnotic Mind”)…[have] lyrics that could kindly be called mindless”. This suggests that the move to a major music label is taking its toll on the band by making its music more radio-friendly and less personal and unique.
Were Jeff the brotherhood ‘selling-out’ by moving to Warner? I say no, they are trying to gain “wider distribution”. Are they going to lose the creative control they had with Infinity Cat Records? I say yes, Warner Brothers is a major label who will mould the music so that it’s suitable for everyone which means it will be more mainstream and less distinctive. Only time will tell if the move to Warner Brothers was really worth it.
By Ramya Nair (@RamyaNair92)
