Incredibly accomplished for a debut, German shoegaze act Jaguwar come out of the gate loud and very proud. Their multi-faceted wall of sound takes a good heap of influence from My Blood Valentine (nice choice), but there’s also a hefty chunk of noise rock, new wave, and dream pop in the mix to give these songs a bit of diversity, edge, and a sense of their own identity. Admittedly, Jaguwar’s (I read it like how the Brits say the car manufacturer in the Jaguar commercials) best foot forward is when they let their noise go from louder to loudest, especially in the opening trio of jams. However, the record’s production is smartly mix and rounded off to minimize the harsher notes of lesser shoegaze.
Ringthing succeeds because it has a rather timeless quality, in part because of the diversity of styles thrown together, feeling like a nice mash-up of the 80s, 90s, and now. It’s bright and neon-colored without going into the realm of twee. The second half of the record falters a little bit, as the dream pop and new wave knobs get dialed much higher than their earlier, riffier noise rock first third of the album. Even still, the quality never falters below very good. Jaguwar is certainly indebted to some obvious influences, but it’s clear they’ve already grown out of the shadow of other, lesser acts who ape the late great amp and guitar pedal worshipers. Ringthing may not offer up a whole lot new, but it’s fresh, fun, and never reliant on nostalgia. Jaguwar are an impressive new shoegaze act who are ready for the spotlight.
