Lines, Vines and Trying Times
What would you say if three teenage boys in tight jeans and rock-and-roll-infused wear, including silky headbands, silver bracelets, and gold-chained necklaces, slammed you in the mouth with brassy brass knuckles?
Ouch, you'd say.
Yet, somehow when teen pop/rock sensation the Jonas Brothers do exactly that (metaphorically speaking that is), it feels weird at first, but then, surprisingly good -- like a massage that hurts initially and then soothes and relaxes its way past knotted and tangled muscle tissue. L-V-double-T is a completely different animal cracker than the Jonas Brothers' first two pop rock albums, which in many ways resembled the Pop Rocks candy with their sizzling tongue-dancing sensations. This time, there are horns (and lots of them), soul and old-school R&B throwback bass lines, '50s style hooks, shuffling rhythms, Nick singing astronaut-high and even a strangely pleasing rap-rock duo with Common. Doesn't sound like your normal Nick, Joe and Kevin radio-friendly ditties, but in many ways this record is about enduring trying times for Jo-Bro fans.
Nick, often heralded as the most talented Jonas, shows his mettle as the songs "Paranoid," "Fly with Me" and "Before the Storm," (a duet with Miley Cyrus) showcase his ability as a songwriter and singer. They are the emotional radio-friendly hits you like to play in your beat-up '87 Honda trekking across the great plains of Kansas en route to golden dreams and ethereal imaginings. The other songs, while interesting, do something more important than simply sounding groovy: they show that the Jo-Bros are capable of much more than teen hits and songs about whales in the family swimming pool, and that they can in fact attract a larger audience than just tween and teen females. The Jo-Bros are on the up-and-up with their most unusual and artistic compilation of songs to-date; getting entangled in these horns and beefy brass instruments with the Jonas Brothers is as satisfying as sucking sweet juicy grapes fresh off the vine.