Jaguar Love was an American

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band formed in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in 2007. It was composed of former members of The Blood Brothers.

History

The band was formed by members of the bands Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves.Lester, Paul (2008)
Band of the day No. 342: Jaguar Love
,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, July 1, 2008 On January 21, 2008, the band announced via MySpace that they had signed to

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apar ...

, former home of

Pretty Girls Make Graves Pretty Girls Make Graves was a post-punk band formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths' song of the same name (which itself was named after a quote from Jack Kerouac's ''The Dharma Bums''). Andrea Zollo and Derek Fudesco had played t ...

. Their debut album "Take Me to the Sea" was released digitally on August 18, 2008, on

. The album leaked onto the internet on July 15, 2008. Johnny Whitney's vocals have been described as "like Robert Plant on steroids, or Perry Farrell after a sex change". They toured Europe in summer 2008, including appearances at major festivals such as

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...

, which was followed by an American tour, opening for

Polysics is a Japanese Techno/Electronic Music band from Tokyo, who dubs its unique style as "technicolor pogo punk". It was named after a brand of synthesizer, the Korg Polysix. The band started in 1997, but got their big break in 1998 at a concert in ...

, before again touring internationally later in the year. They announced via MySpace on February 18, 2009, on a bulletin that they would be making changes to their line-up as well as their sound. The band signed to Fat Possum Records. On November 3, 2009, the band posted a song entitled "Up All Night". The song was heard frequently during their tour in the summer of 2009. The band released their second album "Hologram Jams" on March 2, 2010.

Influences and Musical Style

Johnny and Cody's state in their infamous Blood Brothers outfit still took advantage of the screaming, which captivates Johnny's 'jaguar' like sounding screams. Their genre differs from their last outfit, taking more of an

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

approach. As well as baroque pop, art rock,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, hip-hop,

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

and

. Jaguar Love is influenced by Gang of Four, Jay-Z, New Order, Bootsy Collins,

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

, Botch,

Antioch Arrow Antioch Arrow was an American punk rock band from San Diego, California, that formed in 1992. Most of their discography was released through the San Diego independent label Gravity Records. The label was responsible raising San Diego's profile ...

and

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

. In their latest material, they turn to a more new wave/ dance-punk style, keeping the vocal and guitar statements true.

Discography

* ''Highways of Gold 7" Single'' - June 3, 2008 * ''

Jaguar Love EP ''Jaguar Love EP'' is the first release by art punk band Jaguar Love. It was released by Matador Records on June 3, 2008 in CD, mp3, and FLAC formats. Critical reception Writing for ''MSN Music'', Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ...

'' - June 3, 2008 * ''

Take Me to the Sea ''Take Me to the Sea'' is the first full-length release from Jaguar Love Jaguar Love was an American post-punk band formed in Portland, Oregon in 2007. It was composed of former members of The Blood Brothers. History The band was formed by me ...

'' - August 19, 2008 * ''

Hologram Jams ''Hologram Jams'' is the second full-length studio album by Jaguar Love. It is the first release not to feature former drummer J. Clark. In May 2010, Jaguar Love and the website Tracks and Fields ran a remix competition for producers to remix the ...

'' - March 2, 2010

Members

Cody Votolato Cody Votolato (born 20 May 1982) is a musician from Redmond, Washington, best known for being the guitarist in the post-hardcore band The Blood Brothers. He grew up in the eastside suburbs of Seattle. Cody attended Redmond High School with his ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, bass guitar *

Johnny Whitney Johnny Whitney (born June 28, 1981) is a singer, author and multi-instrumentalist from Seattle. He is probably most well known for his vocals and keyboarding alongside Jordan Blilie in the post-hardcore band, The Blood Brothers. He is also the ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

;Former members * J. Clark – drums,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

;Support members *

Craig Bonich Craig Bonich (also known as Bon) is best known as the guitarist for alternative pop rock band Head Automatica. Bonich co-wrote the hit song from Head Automatica's 1st album ''Decadence'', called "Beating Heart Baby". Bonich recently joined Jerem ...

–

* Zach Richards - drums

References

External links

*
Interview with Cody Votolato on Jekyll and Hyde, 106FM Jerusalem
{{Authority control Fat Possum Records artists Musical groups from Seattle