Customer Reviews

It Dreams

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With the release of the second single all over North American radio, and the video in high circulation on Muchmusic, Jakalope is emerging as one of the best alterive/industrial bands on the scene. Canadian Katie B.'s vocals are magical, producing a hard edgy sound suited to the Nine Inch Nails production, but her vocal range doesn't stop there. "Creeper" along with several other tracks showcase her angelic sound, and her abilty to transition easily between the different ranges.

Having just seen the band live on March 4, in Toronto, I can gladly confirm that her voice is, in fact, hers. No "britney" like effects or voice-over tracks. The live show was so close to perfect vocally, I would have suspected computerized help if I hadn't been at the show myself.

To sum up, Jakalope is smart, edgy, and amazing. The future of alt/rock is looking up with bands like this on the horizon.

Jakalope is the creation of producer and mixer Dave (Rave) Ogilvie, who's worked with such acts as Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and David Bowie. Jakalope is fronted by an unknown, 22 year-old Canadian vocalist named Katie B. Many favors were called in to Sons Of Freedom, Sloan, Monster Magnet, Babes In Toyland, Malhavoc and of course Trent Reznor (NIN). The result is something that's hard to put your finger on, hard to find solid information on, and for me, just hard to put down.
Theories and speculations are everywhere you turn when trying to learn a little about this band. Whether this was a gimick to put money in some pockets, to compete with the sucess of bands like Evanescence, or to be a concept-type spectacle. Whatever the case, I decided to come to my own conculsions and give "It Dreams" a spin, and I recommend you do the same.
Personally, I'm coming from the sounds of Evanescence, Kidneytheives, Garbage, NIN, Tori Amos, and Shocknina, to name a few. Without getting too in depth, my first impressions were that the vocals sounded like Hilary Duff singing NIN at a karoke bar. Katie B. is no Amy Lee - Hmm...what's going on with that? The name similiarity is almost scary. In case you are wondering, her last name is apparently Biever (pronounced "beaver") But what Katie B. lacks in vocal character and power, she makes up for with..."that something."
Musically the whole CD is solid and right up my alley. I loved the entire feel, some songs are more pop some are more industrial. With all the great names that were dropped on this album, it's no wonder why it sounds fantastic.
No matter what Jakalope is or isn't, it has become one of my favorite CDs in a very short period of time. I highly recommend you check it out.

If you're looking for lyrical depth, look elsewhere. If you're just looking to rock out for three quarters of an hour (the duration of It Dreams), I suggest you go to iTunes and download tracks 2, 3, and 4 (Creeper, Pretty Life, and Go Away) and put them on repeat. (Though slower, track 5, Tell Me Why, is worth 99¢, too.)

But I don't recommend purchasing the entire album.

Unless of course, you enjoy such sentiments as "Let me ride your heaven/Let me feel the swellin'", "We are meant to be", "But there's a good chance you might be gay.../Let's try it anyway", and "It's time for the pie in the sky/'Cause I'm hungry". Most of the tracks deal with the simplest aspects of puppy dog love and lack maturity. This is only slightly forgivable when one considers the age of the 22-year old primary vocalist.

Lyrics aside, the singer's voice is pretty, but unremarkable. Her vocals don't have any emotional nuances or subtlety. Regardless of a song's subject matter, she tends to sound the same. Although given the album's limited thematic scope, my criticism might be a little harsh.

The production is flawless, which is to be expected with Ogilvie's years of experience. While the music isn't particularly memorable, there are plenty of catchy, pop-influenced hooks to sing along to. There are few completely awful tracks, but even the first few tracks (excluding the horrendous opener Feel It) which shine fail to carry the album as a whole.

In short, Jakalope comes across as Britney Spears on a Hot Topic spending spree. However, all things considered, this might be a nice initiation for those making the transition from breezy teen dance-pop to industrial's darker tones. It Dreams might not be art, but it is definitely entertainment for its target audience, which I presume to be melodramatic and inexperienced late-teen-twenty-somethings.

This album is amazing. It has beautiful artwork and it's nice that they are Canadian. Katie B(Vocals) has a great voice. It takes a while to get used this CD, but after listening to it about two times it is amazing!

The cd is great!
It Dreams - Jakalope
at first i must admit that it took a while to get used too. i expected everything to be similar to pretty life.. but i was wrong. its a mixture of slow and upbeat songs.
the art work on the cd is absolutly amazing!
everything is very mystical, you get the feeling your in a mystical forest and your a pixie in some songs.
some really good songs are
Feel it,Pretty Life,Go Away,Bad-dream
definatly a must buy. you will enjoy it.
these girls are diffrent.

Okay, imagine that Hilary Duff started singing Rock/Electronica. Amazingly enough, the result isn't half bad. While there isn't much depth to be found on any level, there is some fun and catchy tunes on this cd. Give it a try, you may be happily surprised.
If you like this, you might also check out Vixtrola. Good stuff.

It's hard to put into words just how much I enjoy listening to this album. From the first time I heard Pretty Life, I knew this Canadian band would be dominating my cd player. Katie's vocals are absolutely mesmerizing and the music itself is completely amazing. Everything about this album keeps pulling me back to listen just one more time. The only thing better than this disc is seeing them perform live in concert. Buy this album, and if you have the chance to see them, go, you definitely won't regret it!

I have been eagerly waiting for this CD ever since I heard "Pretty Life" on a local radio station over two months ago.

At first listen, I didn't know what to think. The first part of the CD is pretty 'poppy' however as you travel further into the experience you find a good mixture of song styles/elements. After multiple listens to / from / at work, I must admit, I am hooked!

The variety of the musical elements along with the 'hooks' make this cd a joy to listen to over...and over....and over (think pee wee).

Dave 'the Rave' Ogilvie is the producer and member of this band (former Skinny Puppy, NIN production, etc). As well, there is colaboration from Trent Reznor (some guy from some unknown band).

More *stars* are as follows(direct quote from the record label):

"Expect to hear guest appearances by the likes of Monster Magnet, Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland, Sloan, Phil Western, Numb, Malhavoc, Thom D'arcy of The Carnations and legendary punk rockers S.N.F.U."

Stand out tracks are 'Pretty Life', 'Creeper', 'Screecher' (heavy NIN influence),'Bad Dream' and the too-short-last-track 'House of trepidition'.

Note: the only thing I am not too happy about with this CD is Ogilvie's message to the reunited Skinny Puppy members ("the Kevins"). I for one like the new reincarnation of the Skinny Puppy sound. Dave, keep patting your rabbit and let the dogs play.

Jakalope's first album, "It Dreams" isn't a totally bad album. For me it wasn't a very inspiring album, which is how I usually choose my music, but it's good background music and would be great background music for movies. Alot of it is pretty catchy. If Jakalope evolves from this album they could be really awesome, which is why I decided to give it 4 stars instead of 3. The mix is interesting where it sounds like TATU meets [insert industrial band here], so I hope they can evolve in a postive direction. I do long to hear their new songs in the future.

Jakalope is a mix of Industrial, rock and pop. And some of their video's as well as their older website (Now the Petri Dish) have a gothy feel to them. They currently have three videos (Pretty life, Feel It, and Go Away) And preferably should be watched in that order seeing as how their videos follow one big story. You can also get more bits of the story from the Petri Dish section of the jakalope website (jakalope.net). There is also an awesome fan site that keeps track of information, tours, basically anything you could think of, of jakalope. Even the lead singer, Katie B her self posts on their forums. You can check it out at jakalopefan.com.

Now, about the music. The thing that I liked about Jakalope is that their music was unique. All of their songs don't get boring. The mix of their dark/creepy tone to their music and the sweet and awesome vocals of Katie B is just so different from most of the bands out their right now.