Jean Caffeine’s Shape Shifts Between Upbeat Catchy Tunes and Sharped-Tongued Anthems on New Generation Jean Album feat. “You’re Fine”
Self-described “genre-fluid” artist Jean Caffeine unveils her new album, Generation Jean, on the Austin-based Flak Records. Across its 10 tracks, Jean shows off her sharp wit and songwriting skills as the album slides between retro pop, Americana, punk-tinged blues, power pop, and art rock.
If there’s a theme that ties the album together its feels and moods: The exuberance and limerence of love on “Love What is it?,” the loneliness and isolation of “Another Crying Christmas,” the irritation and exasperation of “You’re Fine,” the sadness of “I Always Cry on Thursday.”
Side A delivers the earworms (“I Know You Know I Know,” “Love What is it?”), while Side B brings the bite with “Another Crying Christmas,” the PSA-with-teeth “Mammogram,” the catchy but irreverent “I Don’t Want to Kill You Anymore” and the edgy art rocker “You’re Fine.”
Just when you expect Jean to roll out another pop rock or punk pop ear worm, she surprises you with her attitudinal lead single “You’re Fine” which is like nothing else in her catalog.
You’re Fine” mashes up new wave, no-wave and Art-rock. With a sparse low groove it conjures up early Talking Heads and Brian Eno and then takes a turn and sounds like it’d fit on a playlist with Lydia Lunch and Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Initially, minimalist and groove-based, the song mutates into a maximalist, Sparks-meets-Queen crescendo – all in protest of the phrase that irritates her the most, “You’re Fine.”
“So often ‘you’re fine’ is delivered with spectacular indifference by a barista or someone I’ve accidentally and clumsily bumped into,” Jean elaborates. “Even though they are saying, ‘you’re fine,’ it feels judgey and dismissive. When you say, ‘you’re fine,’ you are saying that someone is just adequate. Surely I am better (or worse) than adequate! This song is a (jokey) protest to all the ‘you’re fine-ing’ going on out there in the world.”
Recorded with longtime collaborator Lars Göransson (Sounds Outrageous Studio, Austin), the track brims with sonic Easter eggs – a banged frying pan, a mouth-made synth riff run through vocoder, a fake phone sound, wah-wah guitar, and a metal guitar riff that crashes in for the finale. Frequent co-conspirators Josh Robins (Invincible Czars), Jon Notarthomas, (Ian McGlagan, Rubilators) Shannon Rierson (Utley 3 and Flak Records head honcho), and drummer Zack Humphrey (Megafauna) all leave fingerprints on the song’s shapeshifting arrangement.
With Generation Jean, Jean Caffeine proves she’s still pushing herself into unexpected corners and hopefully you’re right there with her, singing along. If “You’re Fine” or the other tracks makes you hum, laugh or cringe, that’s the point. If you need to turn off “You’re Fine” halfway through because it’s irritating? Jean says that’s ok, “You’re Fine.”