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Jaguar Love "Welcome to the Birdskull Palace" (Track Review)

6:08 a.m. · February 1, 2008 · by Jeff Klingman

Jaguar Love rose from the co-mingled ashes of respected Seattle bands the Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves, with a ratio of two Brothers (non-related Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato) to one Girl (non-female Jay Clark). While that pedigree alone was probably enough to facilitate a Matador Records' signing earlier this week, you have to assume that their opening spot on a Queens of the Stone Age tour last year was at least partly granted for heavy shred appeal. Though it'll likely be the summer before we see a Jaguar Love record with an OLE number on its spine, there a few circulating songs to discuss. "Welcome to the Birdskull Palace" takes a while to develop into a satisfyingly menacing rocker, but Whitney wastes no time in unleashing his familiar shriek. Despite common elements with the previous entities of their component parts, Jaguar Love is a little less abrasive than the Blood Brothers, and a little more distinctive than PGMG. As the song gathers steam, ghostly backing vocals and moody late-developing synths add some  particularly welcome texture. It's a little too tuneless and perhaps even a little bit too dull to qualify as a breakout track, but it's surely enough to confirm that the group's potential isn't strictly hypothetical.