Dreamy rock and roll hailing from Vancouver, Jo Passed have certainly been busy with their debut release. Their Prime is an 11-piece record which is able to simultaneously transport you from the most uplifting places yet concurrently combines its dreamy tones with far darker aspects of the human mind. Fronted by Jo herself, this is one debut which will leave an undoubted lasting impression for this band.

Opening the record is ‘Left’, which introduces the album through a solid ambient tone that floods the ears. As Jo’s vocals kick in, they bring forth the fresh vibrance of psychedelia which are performed to such a high calibre, you don’t come across tones like this very often. The instrumentals proceed to clamber up and down in a spidery fashion whilst Jo’s airy voice litters the track, making for an incredibly engaging and dynamic sonic landscape. It’s actually rather incredible how the band have managed to blend two incredibly contrasting sounds into such a wholesome piece which makes for a long, yet brilliant, introduction to the record and the band’s overall sound.

Certain tracks definitely place emphasis on horror-like vibes, with tracks such as ‘MDM’ playing on a far heavier driven tone which I can only describe as feeling: disgustingly brilliant, in the best way imaginable. Equally, however, it seems the band certainly aren’t shying away from packing an incredible level of punch into their sound. ‘Millenial Trash Blues’ and ‘Sold’ both bring a great deal of punchy riffs, heavy distortion and muddy basslines in delightfully powerful and compact packages. Meanwhile, others such as ‘Undemo’ bring forth a chilled sense of lazy rock and roll which feels surprisingly comforting. The level of almost intentional clumsiness that accompanies the track gives it a real sense of character, making for a remarkably warming listen.

It is ‘Repair’, however, which definitely leaves the largest impression and demonstrates almost everything that makes Jo Passed’s sound worth talking about. The casual blending of DIY realism through hand felt, dreamy, guitar picking and occasional jarring notes coalesces terrifically with the psychedelic tones of Jo’s voice. As the track twists and turns, the sound builds to a sudden sharp burst of heavy instrumental which completely catches you off guard and is nothing quite like the rest of the record. The sudden change of pace shoots an all new sense of life into the track and captures the pure ferocity of the band’s sound in the most delightful manner. This technique is used just the right amount and, by the time the track does come to a close, you come away feeling more than satisfied with the listen.

On the whole, there is very little to fault here. Their Prime is a phenomenal debut release which has certainly solidified Jo Passed as an upcoming group who are more than worth keeping an eye on in the near future. The band haven’t been afraid to break the social norms of rock and roll and have cleverly integrated their own twists and turns within each track, making them incredibly colourful and memorable from start to finish. Far too many DIY indie bands fall into the same monotonous sound which becomes indistinguishable from the last, however, the exact opposite can be said for Jo Passed. If the group can continue to keep putting out tracks such as these, they will soon be an incredibly strong force to reckon with.

Ben Walker

Website: jopassed.com
Facebook: facebook.com/jopassed
Twitter: twitter.com/jopassed