Sunshower can be rare occurrence, but when these opposing forces meet, magic and allure is in the — air. This is exactly why the NYC-based rockers, Jupiter One, chose the title (inspired by the Japanese — short film Dreams b... more »y Akira Kurosawa) for their upcoming Ryko album. Their far-out freshness mixed
with timeless musical inspirations mesh together in a bittersweet indie-pop rock concoction produced
by the group and noted engineer Chris Ribando (The Black Crowes, Priestbird, Mary J. Blige).
Jupiter One has a knack for unifying their contemporary style with a range of musical influences. For
instance, the dancefloor-friendly Simple Stones, filled with handclaps and soulful riffs, boasts a bass
line for the all ages while blending 80s Rolling Stones and MGMT. The epic opener Volcano
resurrects the youthful spirit of the Beach Boys with The Flaming Lips, while delivering one of the
disc s best choruses. Singer K Ishibashi conjures The Shins on Find Me a Place, and he drops
vintage, finger-picking folk on People in the Mountain... . The single Flaming Arrow, a shimmering
acoustic folk tune shot through with a bumping bass line and a groove, borders on bossa nova. This
genre-bending approach creates a hook-heavy opus well suited for our A.D.D. times.« less
Sunshower can be rare occurrence, but when these opposing forces meet, magic and allure is in the
air. This is exactly why the NYC-based rockers, Jupiter One, chose the title (inspired by the Japanese
short film Dreams by Akira Kurosawa) for their upcoming Ryko album. Their far-out freshness mixed
with timeless musical inspirations mesh together in a bittersweet indie-pop rock concoction produced
by the group and noted engineer Chris Ribando (The Black Crowes, Priestbird, Mary J. Blige).
Jupiter One has a knack for unifying their contemporary style with a range of musical influences. For
instance, the dancefloor-friendly Simple Stones, filled with handclaps and soulful riffs, boasts a bass
line for the all ages while blending 80s Rolling Stones and MGMT. The epic opener Volcano
resurrects the youthful spirit of the Beach Boys with The Flaming Lips, while delivering one of the
disc s best choruses. Singer K Ishibashi conjures The Shins on Find Me a Place, and he drops
vintage, finger-picking folk on People in the Mountain... . The single Flaming Arrow, a shimmering
acoustic folk tune shot through with a bumping bass line and a groove, borders on bossa nova. This
genre-bending approach creates a hook-heavy opus well suited for our A.D.D. times.
Sophomore effort full of shiny-happy proto-punk power-pop
The Music Man | United States | 09/22/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Imagine if The Cars and CSN had gotten together and had musical knock-offs - the result might very well sound like Jupiter One's sophomore effort "Sunshower". Full of shiny guitar riffs, catchy pop hooks, high harmonies, and a slight punk edge, this is easily one of the best new albums I've heard this year. Their influences are pretty far-reaching, everyone from The Beatles (listen to "Strange Teacher") to The Who (the opening riff on "Volcano") to a Taxiride-like harmonic progression on "Flaming Arrow" (Taxiride owes a big debt to CSN as well). It's all terribly melodic, just-this-side of sweet, with enough of a sharp tang in the vocals and lyrics to keep it edgy. I can hear nods to college rock bands like Luna and Beat Happening, (especially on the fantastic "Made In A Day") and classic nods to The Beach Boys and the poppier side of The Clash (listen to "Anna"). I was happily surprised by this album, and easily recommend it to anyone who loves power-pop, punk-pop, or just plain melodic goodness. These guys deserve to have a few singles break wide, and I hope it happens. They're that good."
Really, really good!
Nathan A. Edwards | Jacksonville, FL USA | 09/24/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Jupiter One has somehow been lumped into the pop genre with so many other bands that could not hold a candle to the musical depth on their album Sunshower. With smooth vocals that seem to float in and around each instrumental contribution, nothing about their sound is displeasing. Beyond this, Jupiter One has certainly not restricted themselves to any particular sound. That is, each track on the album adds something of a slightly different flavor.
Just to give the individuals that have never heard Jupiter One an idea of what they might be getting themselves into they have the instrumental depth and commitment of Karate and the best of the Shins. Some of the vocals might be compared to Motion City Soundtrack, John Lennon, and Elliot Smith. This is a wide spectrum indeed but, again, Jupiter One has not restricted themselves and while they could be compared to other artists, they have a sound truly their own.
"
Blast away the chill of winter
R. Kyle | USA | 10/27/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Sunshower's managed to grab everything from 70's and 80's pop and blend it in to a feel-good disc that doesn't have a single skippable song on it. Probably every reviewer is going to talk about the group's musical influences. I heard Genesis and Peter Gabriel right off. What's great about Sunshower is that the music isn't just 'inspired by'. They've somehow taken the best out of these musical great's styles and made it their own. They've got harmonies inspired by CS&N, a sharp drummer, and a world music influence just to name a few.
This is a CD to put on to blast away winter's chill darkness and dispel a rainy day's gray mood. Use it to dance, exercise, clean the house and the time will go by faster with your heart a good deal lighter, too. One of the best tags below is 'power pop' and that definitely describes this group's appeal.
My only complaints, the sound definitely is engineered for MP3. On a stereo, you lose some of the lovely effects and the beauty of the music somewhat flattens out. Additionally, the CD is short. I could listen to this group for a bit longer than 38 minutes.
Rebecca Kyle, October 2009"
I'm not sure how to categorize this CD ...
JB | Eastern USA | 12/15/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Even after several listens, I can't really put my finger on what the new Jupiter One release Sunshower is really all about. I decided to thumb through other reviews to see if anyone had captured in words what I had so far been unable to.
Alas, I'm not sure anyone else has got the right idea either. It is generally too saccharine to have any type of "punk" label attached, and only a few songs lean towards "power pop". I also can't quite agree with comparisons to CS&N or The Cars, though in one or two spots the band reminded of E.L.O. a bit, and Strange Teacher does have a Beatlesque quality to it.
So I'll give the band credit for an original sound - a bit alternative, with multi-part harmonies, some jangling electric guitars, some interesting classic rock influence, some unpleasant "adult alternative" influence, and some even more unpleasant "adult soft contemporary" influence. That said, I will say I was surprised that I tended to enjoy the more obvious soft pop tracks (Anna, Find Me a Place, Strange Teacher). In all Sunshower ends up being pleasant, but not outstanding, listening."
Thick and catchy
Don Walton Jr. | Albuquerque, NM United States | 11/28/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Jupiter One is another 'kitchen sink' band with a lot of influences and genre nods... and that's not a bad thing. They mix folk, rock, R&B, surf, pop, ska, etc, etc, etc. with a heavy focus on melody. So in the end, you've got a lot of sound to wrap your head around, but they make it fun to do so. It's easy to lose the plot with this type of approach to sound crafting (see some of The Go! Team or The Flaming Lips), but Jupiter One keeps the tempo light and fun, with a constant bug in your ear in the form of a catchy melody. Unoffensive and fun."