CD of The Week

Queen of Jeans - All Again (Memory Music)

Queen of Jeans have been a staple of the Philly music scene for years, writing indie rock tunes with heart and melody. Led by Miri Devora and Mattie Glass, the band worked with veteran local production staple Will Yip on their third full-length album All Again.

Throughout All Again, we experience the highs and lows of a rollercoaster relationship, full of emotionally lyrics and an eye for detailed storytelling. It kicks off with the swirling, lovely “All My Friends,” capturing the mood while out on the road that “All my friends are around but I’m not home.” The big, bold hook of current single “Horny Hangover” finds the band writing about the complexities of messy relationships backed by pounding drums and ringing guitars. The first taste of All Again was last year’s “Karaoke,” a tale set at the bar, laced with humor such as the realization that “It took me half the song to figure out/The mic was off.”

Queen of Jeans spend the record working through these personal experiences that are recontextualized in a semi-fictional narrative. The storytelling on All Again may or may not be linear, so there’s a breakup halfway through on “Let Me Forget,” followed by the bruised “Books in Bed” with its big ‘90s radio production. The rocking “Bitter Pill” is another highlight here.

Winding down All Again, “Last to Try” finds the couple back together again and the record wraps with the coda of “Do It All Again,” which completes the circle as it bleeds back into All Again’s introduction and “All My Friends” once more, while simply stating, “If I got to do it all again/I'd find you there like I did back then." Even when something is over, it’s not really over, is it?

All Again deserves to find a bigger fanbase for Queen of Jeans, whose songwriting style should be a no-brainer for everyone who fell in love with boygenius last year. They play a hometown headlining show, surely surrounded by all their friends, at PhilaMOCA on July 20th.
Review by Joey O.