Some months back, The Wall Street Journal ran a front-page feature about an 18-year-old Britney Spears wannabe that MCA Records had dropped $2.2 million on — and sold a grand total of 378 copies of her first album. Meanwhile, real bands that actually, y’know, play music can’t even get the time of day from the industry anymore.
A case in point is Jolene, who left the major-label grind a few years back to go the DIY route. The Pretty Dive is the band’s second album on its own label, and it is lovely and mysterious. Those who lamented the day R.E.M. discovered synthesizers likely will find solace here.
The Pretty Dive is a shade more electric than 1999’s Antic Ocean. It has a broader range of sounds, even some electronic whooshes on the U2-ish track “Discoteque” (which yields the album’s title phrase) and very kitschy 1970s-vintage keyboards on the cinematic “Falling Up”.
But overall, this one differs little from the blueprint mapped out on Jolene’s other three albums. Within its rippling jingle-jangle guitar and minor-key atmosphere, frontman John Crooke’s verbiage counts less for literal meaning than emotional vibe.
