Perfecting Loneliness

1	The Frequency 6:15
2	You're the One I Want 4:26
3	Cat Heaven 5:06
4	Perfecting Loneliness 5:47
5	Lucky Charm 5:59
6	Wish List 4:19
7	Psalm 5:16
8	Autumn Walker 5:33
9	Further North 5:14
10	William Tell Override 3:58
11	Disgrace 6:23
12	Rocket Boy 9:33

Barnes & Noble

Jets to Brazil frontman Blake Schwarzenbach has always had a hard time deciding between whispering sweet nothings and banging his -- or the listener's -- head against a wall. On this, the band's third album, Schwarzenbach leans more toward the former, crafting a series of intimate, unabashedly personal tunes that practically read like diary entries. But unlike most confessional types, he's not steadfastly gloomy: In fact, the swirling, bass-driven "Wish List" speaks glowingly about the singer's love for his parents. In keeping with his apprenticeship with emo pioneers Jawbreaker, Schwarzenbach knows the value of some well-placed darts of angst, which he delivers with precision on the wiry "Disgrace" (which is propelled by a simple-but-stinging guitar line). The songs on Perfecting Loneliness are, by and large, more complex in construction than the band's previous releases, ranging from the prog-like expanse of "Psalm" to the plaintive balladry of "Cat Heaven" (which would fit snugly on a mid-'70s singer-songwriter mix-tape). The comparative gentleness leaves the rhythm section -- particularly drummer Chris Daly -- somewhat at sea, and it may cause concern among some of the band's more doctrinaire punk fans. But Perfecting Loneliness is less the close of one chapter in the Jets to Brazil saga than it is the opening stanza of a new, more mature one. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Perfecting Loneliness finds Jets to Brazil continuing their trajectory from Jawbreaker to Orange Rhyming Dictionary to Four Cornered Night. With this outing, the band develops their folk-pop repertoire via a set of summer-tinged, bittersweet memories. With deeper instrumentation, undone piano melodies, and larger-than-life orchestration, Schwarzenbach and company manage to turn intimate observations into moments of transcendent grandeur -- and while the album might not sound exactly like Nick Drake, the effect is the same. It's an emotional journey for sure, as songs like "Psalm" drift into the territory reserved for the likes of James Taylor. But Jets to Brazil maintains just enough rock crunch to keep the album driving. It's not all gloomy and glum -- "Autumn Walker" and "William Tell Override" still seethe with the punk-pop power of Hüsker Dü and Sugar and a relentlessly optimistic groove. But the final song, "Rocket Boy," is the most ambitious, and it will leave listeners welling up with nostalgia and yearning. ~ Charles Spano, All Music Guide