Stream: The Jealous Sound, ‘A Gentle Reminder’ (full album)

Kevin Bronson on
1

Midway through the Jealous Sound’s comeback album “A Gentle Reminder,” singer-guitarist Blair Shehan sings optimistically, “This is happening.” Fans of the L.A. quartet’s breakthrough “Kill Them With Kindness,” selected one of SPIN’s best albums of 2003, will hardly believe it. After the eight years, the Jealous Sound is back, shedding baggage, embracing the future and bleeding the stuff of great albums – majestic melodies, hyper-emotional lyrics and bristling guitar work. The personal journey Shehan undertook when he checked out of the music world in 2004, along with his trip’s failed promises, fractured relationship and regrets, comes to life in “A Gentle Reminder’s” monster hooks and sharp couplets. In some ways, it’s Jimmy Eat World’s “Bleed American” with a lot more mileage on the odometer; in others, it’s the Jealous Sound, working every emo muscle in your body, especially the heart.

||| Live: The Jealous Sound plays the Satellite on Feb. 28.

||| Stream: “A Gentle Reminder”

||| Previously: “Your Eyes Were Shining”

Photo by Andy Mueller