Jagged Baptist Club – Temptation Death House LP (Blowtorch Records)

Here’s another good vinyl record from Blowtorch Records. It’s a recent one that came along with Virgins and Owls releases. Like many Blowtorch Records artists, the band I will be talking about today is not a stranger to these pages. They’re familiar faces, and I had a chance to stumble upon a couple of their tracks on Blowtorch Records Vol. 2 various artists’ sampler LP and streaming services. Since 2019, this Los Angeles-based group has released a couple of recordings, such as a self-titled LP, Basking In The Heat Lamp – Live In Los Angeles, and a Jagged Baptist Club cassette sampler curated by frontman Blake Stokes for Blowtorch Records. Each recording offers a tremendous amount of ideas delivered through exceptional musicianship. Therefore, I have high hopes for their latest release as well.

Temptation Death House offers eight incredible alternative compositions suitable for any mood, moment, or occasion. I used alternative as a starting point because Jagged Baptist Club‘s music unquestionably hides many sonic ingredients, ready to be discovered once you press play on your turntable. Their songs carry some of the best qualities borrowed from complementary music genres such as post-punk, punk rock, garage rock, psych rock, and indie rock, but there’s even more lurking around. Some compositions lean towards synth rock, synth pop, and prog-rock, but these are just minor accentuations, decorations, or enhancements that unquestionably improve entire songs or just particular segments. Jagged Baptist Club are not afraid to play around, combine and experiment with their ideas. Therefore, they thoroughly considered and planned each riff, chord progression, theme, melody, harmony, bassline, or beat so it could work out to the advantage of these complex sonic equations.

I like how the thick layer of raw, abrasive, dirty riffs articulates with overly distorted basslines. These two instruments work like a charm in this case, where the generous servings of fuzzy distortion pervade the ambiance from all possible sides. Still, these elements are not overwhelming the remainder of the orchestrations. Quite the contrary, they flawlessly work together in shaping that colossal, grungy, but progressive sound of Jagged Baptist Club. These guys know how to assemble energetic numbers where some of the finest properties of post-punk, art punk, punk rock, and garage rock harmoniously work with progressive synth leads, progressive rock improvisations, and reverby ambiance. Each song carries enormous dynamics, clever arrangements, and exceptional musicianship. Temptation Death House is probably one of the best full-length releases in this set of music genres, and you should check it out immediately. Head to Blowtorch Records for more information about ordering this beautiful bright pink vinyl record.