Local Review: PERSONA 749 — JOCK ROCK
Local Music Reviews
PERSONA 749
JOCK ROCK
Self-Released
Street: 02.28.25
PERSONA 749 = The Strokes + Sparks
When PERSONA 749 sat down for a SLUG Localized interview in 2023, the band’s lead singer and primary songwriter, Che Landikusic, didn’t think the group had found their style just yet. “We’re still growing,” he said back then. Now, after nearly two years, a handful of singles and several EPs, the band has released their first full-length album, and the style they’ve grown into is a fun and eclectic amalgamation of indie rock, new wave and art pop.
And while I just took a stab at identifying the album’s genre, I have to admit that Jock Rock obstinately bucks neat categorization. From the mathy opening of “Labadusa” to the sentimental and sprawling finale that is “Wonderful,” this record never really settles into a predictable formula or sound. For example, the guitar solo towards the end of “Love & Blood” is something Cameron Muncey might write, while the breakdown in “That’s America” harkens to the more fuzzy work of Albert Louis Hammond Jr.
The result is that there’s something on Jock Rock for just about everybody who loves rock and/or roll. Some tracks, like the popular single “stereo girl,” would comfortably sit on a frat boy’s party playlist, while others, such as “Waterfall,” are a little more introspective and vulnerable without compromising on the fun vibes.
As the perfect complement to the album’s compositional variety, Landikusic is a bit of a vocal chameleon. When he sings, “I love you more than anything I’ve ever known / And I’m scared of what’s to come” during the intro of “Labadusa,” he assumes a vaudevillian persona like those David Byrne or Russell Mael are famously fond of affecting. Landikusic utilizes this theatrical voice a few times across the album, most notably on the synth-heavy “Love & Blood.” But on other tracks, such as “Release” and even the second half of “Labadusa,” he adopts a casual, gravelly vocalization that sounds more like Julien Casablancas when he’s in his natural garage rock element instead of operatically autotuning his way through a baffling new record from The Voidz.
The most startling of Landikusic’s vocal transformations is on “Is it alive?” Here, he takes on a high-pitched, mournful voice so reminiscent of Thom Yorke that the first time I heard the track, I thought Spotify had somehow skipped off of Jock Rock and served me a previously unreleased Radiohead demo from the band’s A Moon Shaped Pool era. The song’s synth vs. drum polyrhythms and unusual string arrangements also contribute to the Radiohead comparison. And while I enjoy Thom Yorke as much as (and possibly more than) the next guy, the dark and spooky brood of this song’s intro sticks out on an album that is otherwise very upbeat and garage-y. To its credit, “Is it alive?” builds toward a raucous middle section that’s more in line with the rest of Jock Rock, but the tonal 180 of the track’s intro is slightly jarring.
If this album suffers from anything — of which I’m not actually convinced — I think the inclusion of “Is it alive?” is emblematic of the ailment: lack of focus. Some listeners may struggle to sit through the entire album since it doesn’t really amount to a coherent musical statement but proves to be more of a compilation of polished experiments by very competent, self-aware artists.
All that is to say that Jock Rock is a little too varied for me to determine if PERSONA 749 has finalized the growth Landikusic alluded to in 2023 or if they’re still tinkering in search of a definitive style of their own. This doesn’t really matter, though. Even when it feels like PERSONA 749 is distractedly playing in the genre sandbox, each track is such an interesting sand castle that you love to hear it take shape even after you’ve come to expect the band to sweep it away and build something very different in its place.
Jock Rock is now available on most streaming platforms, and PERSONA 749 is currently in the throes of a large North American tour. Catch them live if you’re lucky enough to live in a city where they’re playing, and follow them on Instagram at @persona.749 to be among the first to hear about new tour dates and upcoming releases. —Joe Roberts
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