Artist Jaill

On Jaill’s Sub Pop debut, That’s How We Burn, Milwaukee’s preeminent slacker-rock band combs its hair, puts on a clean shirt, and remakes itself as a sleek and savvy engineer of guitar-pop should-be hits. Tightening up the casual, stoner-guy approach taken on previous releases—even transforming the tossed-off, 5-year-old song “Everyone’s Hip” into a jumpy new-wave jam that A.C. Newman might want to consider plagiarizing—Jaill has built That’s How We Burn on a solid foundation of sinewy hooks and mile-a-minute bon mots tumbling from Vinnie Kircher’s jittery vocals. The lean economy of That’s How We Burn is a testament to the years Kircher spent in his bedroom crafting clever pop songs that never found an audience.

Updated 03/22/2012