Jack & Jack - A Good Friend is Nice

Jack & Jack
A Good Friend is Nice
2019
Spotify

If you have never heard of Jack & Jack you're probably over 20 years old. The Omaha born, Los Angeles based pop duo have millions of followers on Instagram and throughout 2018 they toured the world. Their sound is sort of like a more cuddly version of the most recent version of the Chainsmokers but for teens. Now you might be saying to yourself "how much more "for teens" can you get than the Chainsmokers, but for as hard the Chainsmokers have sold out they have alwys attempted to keep one foot on the edgy side of the fence. Jack & Jack aren't concerned with that, they are here to make pop music for pop kids, full stop. They employ these EDM inspired pop bops and boyish good looks to entice teen girls at an incredible clip. Throw in a few shirtless workout pics on instagram and you've basically set yourself up for success. Their music sounds exactly like everything else in pop music today, I mean totally dead one. There is still steel eyed dedication to make things are generic while still crowd pleasing that is almost respectable, almost. Of course with all acts like this they eventually step in their own way and try to branch out into something that just isn't for them. "Barcelona" is one of those songs. It has this wonderful tropical house beat punctuated by a killer horn section, but then the boys decide they need to rap a little and well things go a bit wonky. Their pure pop songs are totally fine, and when they sing together it isn't half bad, but it's the times they try to stretch that fall really flat.

"Promise Me" similarly begins with this autotune section that feels very Kanye-ish, but then becomes this emotional plea for real love. There are also songs that feel far to grown up for the duo like "Pose". I always find it odd when songs that are supposed to be for teens say things like "she's on the liquor", like is she really guys? I think not. When they take this posturing stance, and try to flex, it sounds goofy as all hell. Sing your pop songs and let that be it, you don't need to be rappers also. They fall into this trap so many times, and it probably works. Hip Hop is one of the biggest things in pop music right now so why not have two pretty white guys cash in as well right? It's frustrating because it's unnecessary, their music is fine on it's own. The boys have a style that is their own and if they stick to it there is the potential for something to grow here, but if they keep just including these super cringy elements they aren't going to be around for too long. Only time will tell if they figure it out.

5.9 out of 10