A Ray Of Sunlight: A Brief Review Of The New Album From J. Robbins (Jawbox, Channels, Office Of Future Plans, Government Issue)

In the four years since his superb Un-becoming, J. Robbins has survived the COVID era, adapted to it (in terms of recording), and emerged as full of vigor as he's ever sounded. His new album, Basilisk is out on Dischord this week. If you guessed that it was full of angular, muscular (but not aggro), punk rock, you'd be right.

The opener "Automaticity" is catchy and sharp, while "Last War" is more frenzied. This one benefits not only from heroic drum-work from Darren Zentek (Continuals, etc.), but a treated cello from guest Gordon Withers. The lines of a Robbins composition are clean. There never seems to be anything superfluous in a track, with even the insistent, spiralling guitar-line of "Gasoline Rainbows" doing some of the heavy lifting behind the vocals. "A Ray of Sunlight" traces a similar path, with the rhythm section of Brooks Harlan (bass) and Zentek on the kit doing a good deal of the work next to Robbins himself. Numbers such as these -- and there are many on Basilisk -- churn with a marvelous energy. It's not just that they're energetic, economical, punchy rockers, but that Robbins manages to make them wildly catchy too. Fans of his work in Channels should find lots to love here, it goes without saying.

The Jon Brion-y "Not the End" segues into the crunchy riffs (Withers on guitar here) of "Old Soul" neatly and a listener sort of marvels at how supple this material is. For a newbie, I might reference both Sugar and solo Bob Mould as points of comparison, but I think Robbins' work really deserves to stand on its own. Basilisk is bright, smart, and sonically clean. It's also a beast, full of hooks, big chords, and consistently smart choices. Is that a surprise? Of course not. J. Robbins has been refining his attack for decades, and for lots of us in this town, this is another in a strimg of gems that stretch back to J's days in Jawbox. It's also an absolute pleasure to listen to.

Basilisk by J. Robbins is out on Dischord on February 2.

[Photo: Shane K. Gardner]