Tejon Street Corner Thieves is an alt-folk group based out of Colorado Springs. Juxtaposition is their fifth studio album with nine tracks total.
As highlighted on the third track “Can’t Remember,” Connor O’Neal’s vocals stand out against the strumming instrumentation of the band. The amount of vocal cracks and stretches in his range juxtaposes the smooth banjo riffs he is playing in unison.
In “Special Lady,” the harmony borders on discordant as the vocals alternate between octaves and vocalists. It is almost as if they are reading their lyrics in synchrony into the mic, playing catch-up to the tempo. The storyline, almost childlike, tells of a man vowing himself to his woman byway of “[taking her] to the Waffle House / To see the twinkle in [her] eyes,” or “stealing [her] a tv / And [doing] 25 to life.” There isn’t much progression in the instruments, a simple melody on repeat supplies the base for the song.
The vocals in “Blue Lives Murder” is the same as in “Can’t Remember,” rough around the edges and dry. The music is taken over by the vocals in a poor manner, and while there is a nice tone to the instrumentals, it is pretty much the same thing over and over again.
“You Rascal You” is much catchier than the rest of the album. However, the use of a kazoo could have been executed differently, it sounds broken, with no notes clearly followed. Leading into the seventh and eighth tracks, “The End of Apathy” and “Preacher’s Daughter,” sound very similar. The same chords for much of everything are switched periodically by adding in some harmonies. Not to say that the tambourine, banjo and accompanying instruments do not sound good – with a little character or added variation they could shine.
The final song “Run Away” has more of a meaningful story line, and the emotion in the vocals can be felt as they go along with the rest of the instruments. The chord progressions in this song are a strong way to end the album, adding some real depth. There are soulful elements in this song that create more emotion than previously seen throughout the rest of the album.
Not to say that there is not a target audience for Juxtaposition by Tejon Street Corner Thieves; however, from a musical perspective the repetitive nature was harder to navigate. There are a couple of moments that show potential for the next album, so no holdout of hope for what is next for the band.
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