Vancouver’s new grunge band JBNG are set to release their second full-length album Run on November 1st. Spearheaded by frontman Jaben Groome, there is a strong alt rock current that runs through the group’s sound as they seem influenced by everything from Soundgarden to The Replacements. There’s also a personal importance to the band for Groome, who previously played bass in other bands but found that singing was a way of managing his bipolar disorder. Unsurprisingly, then, there’s an emotional urgency and vibrancy evident in every second of Run, making it a late contender for one of the year’s most exciting releases.
The album begins with one of its catchiest numbers, “The Narrator,” a blast of 90s punk pop that is tempered by Groome’s weathered, raspy vocals which are reminiscent of Tom Waits. Elsewhere there’s a Nirvana esque dirge with “Barely Know You” and even traces of metal on tracks like “See You In Metal.” Stylistically, every song seems separate from the one that comes before it, which is likely the result of each track being previously released as a single over the span of ten months. Yet the band manages to tie it all together into one extremely enthralling collection. Although JBNG are such a new group, they’ve already carved out such an impressive niche for themselves, and prove that there’s still new gold to be unearthed within the alt rock genre.
