By Ian Bremner

Nashville’s psychedelic grunge lords JEFF The Brotherhood have gone wild. You could sense a slow transition. They’ve never been afraid to venture in any direction they see fit, and as any record nerd will tell you, albums are about a specific point in time. At this point in time, Jake and Jamin Orral, “JEFF,”  have gone by the world and added layers and layers of sound.

Their early records were straight fuzz and riffs. It was beer drinkin’, head-banging rock n roll. They’ve done a covers record. They went major label (then not) and put out a power pop record, Wasted On The Dream. They ventured into jam-heavy, psychadelia with Global Chaka Rhythms. They got back to their roots, albeit a matured version with Zone, but now… now they have fully leaned into what Global Chaka Rhythms was all about with the 2018 incarnation of JEFF The Brotherhood with Magick Songs.

Magick Songs has hardly any vocals, hardly any riffs, hardly any fuzz. There are still a few elements of JTB’s younger years, especially towards the back half of the record when the volume knob is cranked up. 5 of the 12 tracks are upwards of 5 minutes. There is static noise, drones, bongo drums, background voices, a major transformation for two brothers that used to rely purely on the garage-riff-drum-combo.

It’s rewarding to see bands grow and follow their intuition. There were signs JEFF The Brotherhood would lean this direction after Global Chaka Rhythm, but fans weren’t sure if that was just a change up or a look into the future. We may have an idea now, but we’ll also just have to wait for the next version of JTB to find out. In the meantime, there is plenty of Magick in the current version.

Listen to Magick Songs via spotify