Search - Jiggy Nye :: Jiggy Nye

With more hooks than a tackle shop, Jiggy Nye's alternative mix of ruffhouse guitars and pure pop harmony is as melodic as it is powerful. Their 'REM meets Sarah McLachlan' sound features two female singers, chime-n-grind guitars (many built by the band) and spare use of overdubs. Though it's a veritable catalog of rock tradition that's tap-rooted in rock's boundary-expanding era of 1967-72, this debut album nonetheless manages to sound fresh, original and unexpected thanks to members' work in jazz, classical and Broadway; lyrics for two of the songs -- 'Circus' and 'Mysina' -- were adapted from poems by Katherine McCanless Ruffin, with 'Circus' and its vision of seductive carny a suitable vehicle for the band's interest in pushing the limits of meter and harmony. As co-produced and recorded by Derek Chafin, who is noted for an earthy, organic approach enabled by liberal use of vintage gear and a no-gimmick, 'put 'em in a room and mic 'em'; philosophy, the record sounds as if it was conjured by the same musical genie that had a hand in creating The Beatles' 'White Album', The Band's 'Music From Big Pink'; and the Rolling Stones' 'Exile On Main Street'.