Jacuzzi Boys: Jacuzzi Boys

Over the course of two albums — 2009’s No Seasons and 2011’s Glazin’ — the Jacuzzi Boys accomplished pretty much everything that could be expected of a garage/punk/power pop trio called “the Jacuzzi Boys”: borderline pornographic cover art (that’d be No Seasons); 23 songs, only eight of which were longer than three minutes; and a tendency to address topics such as the benefits of air conditioning (Glazin’‘s “Cool Vapors”). It would’ve been a small but worthwhile legacy, one destined to be unearthed by the 2040 version of .rar blogs. Instead, the titular boys have decided to grow up, as evidenced by the serious-signaling self-titling of their latest album and the tightening and tidying up of their sound. The artwork says it all: the rifle yielding to the bird; scuzzy flannel giving way to glam boots. … And damned, if the band doesn’t pull it off.

From the horns of opener “Be My Prism” to the T.Rex-y slink of “Over the Zoom” and the spacey synths on the stuttering “Double Vision”, there’s a confidence and boldness on display that suits the band well. Comparisons to the Smith Westerns (“Be My Prism”) and Yuck (“Dust”) may be inevitable, but the Jacuzzi Boys retain enough of their previous humor and urgency (“Rubble”, “Hotline”) to stand on their own. Jacuzzi Boys? More like Jacuzzi Men. Cough.