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Sam Jacobs, AES class of 1995 Sam Jacobs Lipstik began in the head of Sam Jacobs while sitting ensconced in a cubicle surrounded by the dull glare of corporate drudgery. He hatched a plan for a secret life, replete with all the old rock and roll cliches. Fortunately, he had access to a group of budding, talented young musicians, all of whom were engaged in other projects at the time around New York. In late night bars, at 4 in the morning in a Lower East Side apartments, they collected all the old song fragments that had lain dormant in his mind for years, accumulated like patches from a quilt. Stitching them together yielded bursting passionate anthemic rock songs with lyrics referencing their darker past-times. Jacobs titled them 'Everything Is Good'. The album is filled with courageous, graceful rock epics touching on the old refrains, filled with both a subtle darkness and a steadfast, almost naive belief in the power of honest good music. Standout tracks and moments are plentiful on the disc. Jacobs seems to have a knack for the anthemic outro with the codas for 'Honey Eyes', 'Clear the Brush', 'Natural Beauty' and 'One More Time' all raising hairs on the backs of necks. Throughout the album, Jacobs stabs the songs with a modernist's taste for the eclectic. From the untethered jazz horn blows in the 'The Fuck Off' to the dissonant guitar squawks of 'One More Time'. Comparisons have ranged from traditional touchstones such as Tom Petty, Wilco and Bruce Springsteen to somewhat darker references. One critic called the deceptively simple love song 'Erica' "bluegrass Leonard Cohen", referring to the growled vocals, the lyrics of death and addiction, and the brooding cello swirling beneath the banjo picking. Says guitarist and co-producer, John Patrick Hastings, "We wanted to establish a foothold in traditional rock and then see what we could do with it. How to play with it and screw around with the expectations." "I suppose the structures are straight-forward but I'm trying to create something that is powerful and true." says Jacobs. "There's all kinds of true but mine is kind of a throwback to the fist-pumping moments of the glory days." Jacobs smiles inwardly. "I guess that's why I call it the New American Heart Rock. We'll see where we can take it from here." Sam Jacobs
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