Jump into the Gospel

Whereas most voices these days have taken the recent financial crisis as a reason to either complain aimlessly or blame others ad nauseam, hipster quartet Jump into the Gospel pursue a more distilled emotion in frontman Louis Epstein's carefully thought-out epigrams. He trills chirpily on opening track "Humvee Mansion" about the tribulations of modernity, lambasting Bush-era splurging with Vampire Weekend-like wit: "I don't win until I make you lose." One might think that a band whose crowning single obsesses over 401ks might be too dry for dancing, but somehow JITG manages to voice an irrepressible optimism despite the lyrics' nihilistic take on a potentially dull subject. The song bristles with the danceable accessibility of its indie pop contemporaries Phoenix and Passion Pit. After critiquing our nation's endemic lust for capitalism, Gospel's debut EP delves into the misfortunes of romance, often channeling the offbeat sentiment and percussive elocution of Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner. But after the pungent, sparkling opener, the earnest, hot-and-heavy emotional perforation of songs like "Photovoltaic" feel comparatively charmless despite their obvious craft. Perhaps Jump Into The Gospel is at their best when they're at their most glib.