JAGUAR LOVE PLAY THE OPERA HOUSE (735 QUEEN E) WITH THE FAINT AUG 21.
Johnny Whitney’s voice is a real love-it-or-hate-it proposition. If you hate the fact that the former Blood Brothers front man always sings a hair or two off-key and screeches like Ned Beatty in Deliverance, well, then Jaguar Love’s sinewy, punky pop-rock isn’t going to float your boat. If his wailing is totally your bag, baby, you should go back to your Blood Brothers records, because the idea of Whitney fronting any band other than a gang of dissonant post-hardcore lunatics is just stupid. The songs here are passable, with Jay Clark (ex–Pretty Girls Make Graves) and the Brothers’ Cody Votolato whipping up an above-average keyboard-driven ruckus, but except for a handful of more riff-driven songs (“Jaguar Pirates”), most of this sounds like a middling indie record melted in the sun and played back at 45 instead of 33, which is as revolting as it sounds. Turn down the suck.