JEFF the Brotherhood
Wasted on the Dream
Release Date: Mar 24, 2015
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Infinity Cat Recordings
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy Wasted on the Dream from Amazon
Album Review: Wasted on the Dream by JEFF the Brotherhood
Satisfactory, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
Warner bankrolled Wasted on the Dream but dropped JEFF the Brotherhood just weeks prior to its March release, a situation that didn't exactly make the band distraught ("We, JEFF the Brotherhood, are SO F****** PLEASED to announce that we have been DROPPED from the clutches of the demented vulture that is Warner Bros.," they announced in a not entirely diplomatic press release). Such parting of the ways may suit both parties and it suggests what an odd little record Wasted on the Dream actually is. Boasting a bigger, beefier production than usual JEFF LPs -- a sign of the extra money at a major -- Wasted on the Dream is hardly a crossover record.
Based on rating 7/10
The Orrall brothers' relative careerism was always at odds with their fell-out-of-a Salvation-Army-donation-bin aesthetic. So it wasn't surprising for them or their fans when Warner Brothers dropped the duo last month. So while it remains unclear what Warner thought they were getting when they signed the band, it is surprising that the label cut them loose before releasing what proves to be the duo's best record to date.The duo never have never had trouble milking hooks out of their fuzzy sound, but here everything is heightened, their stoner jams rocking harder than ever; "Coat Check Girl" is their most pop-friendly effort yet, a should-have-been rock radio hit.
Based on rating C+
The psychedelic garage revival, led by artists like Ty Segall, has exploded across the country. JEFF the Brotherhood joins in on the excitement with an ever-expanding catalog, an unrelenting tour schedule, and a hard-partying ideal. The Nashville duo’s newest album, Wasted on the Dream, offers the same fuzzy riffs as the psychedelic kids, but adds a generous helping of pop hooks and song structure.
Based on rating 5.2/10
Wasted on the Dream was supposed to be JEFF the Brotherhood's second album on Warner Bros., but about a month ago, the Nashville duo announced they were "SO FUCKING PLEASED" that they had been dropped. Now the title reads as accidentally prophetic: This is likely to be the only album ever to feature members of Jethro Tull and Best Coast and a guy who worked with Poco, and you have to wonder what Warner Bros. were hoping for by allowing a band like JEFF the Brotherhood to conduct their own fantasy draft.
Based on rating 4/10
What the fuck is all of this noise? A new Weezer album? Well, sure as hell you might think that after a listen to “Coat Check Girl” or if you spared a second to peep “Prairie Song,” but oh, no, it can’t be a Weezer album. There are just too many elements of stoner-metal here – too heavy, too smoggy, not cuddly enough. The delicate constitutions of Rivers Cuomo and his band of milk-fed, milquetoast milksops could never slam like this.
Opinion: Excellent
The Nashville duo JEFF the Brotherhood became notorious in the early 2010s for its rip-roaring take on scuzzed-out rock. The clamor around the Orrall brothers (Jake and Jamin) grew loud enough to get them snapped up by Warner Bros. But the partnership between scrappy band and corporate behemoth proved to be a nightmare for JEFF, which in February announced that it had liberated itself from the “demented vulture” and would be releasing its eighth album on its own label, Infinity Cat.
'Wasted on the Dream'
is available now