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You could, if you were so inclined, argue until the cows come home where The Persian Leaps fits into the musical landscape – is it power-pop, indie-rock, alt-pop, jangle-pop, or poised rock music? Who knows? Who really cares? What doesn’t need to be a subject for discussion is whether “Jeane”, their latest musical missive, is or isn’t the best slice of jaunty, upbeat, sonic sweetness you have heard in a long time. It is; just admit it—end of discussion.
Drew Forsberg and his leaping musical retinue have always explored and extrapolated the goodness from all manner of smart pop music and sophisticated rock, intelligent indie, and any other genre that take their fancy to make music that walks a fine and fleet-footed line between them all. And so they do here.
And if “Jeane” sounds familiar to you, it is because it is a Smiths song, the b-side to “This Charming Man” no less, a much-overlooked song from a band whose musical explorations and inventiveness took them on a similar journey to that described above. Both bands and their approach to music-making are a match made in heaven, so “Jeane” is the perfect song for The Persian Leaps to make their own.
Make it their own, indeed they do. The beat stomps, the bassline grooves melodically, and the guitars chime and charm in that cool and innovative, anti-rockist way that the boy Marr specialized in.
If the song you choose to cover sounds like it was yours all along, then you must have done a good job.
