Jinx Review

Jinx Review (Elle and Meghan)

As another Friday hits, we have more new music released. This Friday, Waterparks released their sixth studio album, Jinx. Join us as we listen through this record together.

The album starts off with TELL ME WHY. This track features a multitude of artists, such as Mark Hoppus, Danny Elfman, Eric Nally, and Sorry My Love. It’s a stacked track with its artists, along with its instrumentals and lyrics. The song focuses on themes of life, why we live it, and questioning what’s after. The song has a very theatrical take on its lyrics, feeling like the beginning of an epic movie. 

What I love most about this song is how self-aware it is without feeling like you're drowning in pity. It talks about having a dream at thirteen, but after gaining fame now, it doesn’t just make the insecurity go away. Production wise there's a lot of moving parts, these parts are very upbeat and rhythmic, which is why it may even take a few listens to really get the message, the exhaustion and disillusionment. The song has a catchy chorus. Its always stuck in your head!

ILWC is very compelling to me. I think it has to do with the lack of restraint. Awsten is very honest here, with lyrics like “God forbid my mom wakes up and reads half the crazy bullshit on her feed (Oh God)

She's calling up like, "What you done?"

'Cause some lying fuck said that I knocked 'em up

Gross, like I'd ever fuck you (Fuck you)

In case you didn't hear that, two: Fuck you”

He shows the not so glamorous side of being famous, and rightfully so! He deserves privacy!

PROWLER is such an honest song, unlike many songs that use irony to hide behind. It shows anxiety and insecurity. Beneath just the music itself is someone questioning what happens when something you build everything around becomes unstable.

BETTER THAN THERAPY was the final single for this record. The track compares a girl to the experience of going to therapy– and how the girl is the much better option. This song definitely has some promiscuous undertones. For me, the part of this song that stands out most is the backing vocals. Waterparks never misses with the layers to their songs. 

NOBODY BUT YOU makes no effort in trying to hide its meaning. The song is very mellow, but it’s clear that it’s about passionately loving somebody. The main hook on this is Awsten Knight singing “I don’t want nobody but you.” This track has some of the calmer instrumentals on this album, and is a great easy listen.

As we hit the middle of this album, we are met with the song GWEN STEFANI. GWEN STEFANI has been one of the most popular unreleased Waterparks songs ever since it was first played on an instagram livestream. This song opens with its chorus, and honestly, might have the catchiest chorus on this record. Listening to it, the instrument that seems loudest to me is the drums.

Track eight, NO NO NO NO NO, absolutely surprised me. When initially reading the title, I expected an angry song, almost reminiscent of REAL SUPER DARK on their last album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. Instead, we were given a sweet love song. The title comes from a lyric where the other person is asking Awsten to stay. “No, no, no, no, no, don’t go away.” Its instrumentals remind me of SELF-SABOTAGE– a lovely song to have similar instrumentals to.

PLAYING MUSIC is the next track for this album, and similar to NO NO NO NO NO, is a sweet love song. The main idea of this track is that nothing compares to being with somebody you love. The closing of the chorus is “What would I do/If I ever lost you?” The song is so genuine, and the love that pours out of it is so clear.

The record takes a slight swerve at MIRAGE. To be truly honest, I followed Awsten’s guide to listening to an album for the first time, and I believe that made this song hit ten times harder. MIRAGE starts off very calm, comforting even. As the lyrics settled in, it only got sadder. In the second verse, the second line makes a subtle reference to the track REAL SUPER DARK off of the band's last album. The song has a common theme of  loss and lingering memories. The lyric “Why does time heal everything but me?” was definitely a hard lyric for the team over here to listen to. The song is beautiful, but so heartbreaking.

We move back into a somewhat lighter song with TASTES LIKE TANGERINE. The way it was interpreted over here was a metaphor for ego growth with fame. Its lyrics talk about feeling like they're floating, and how the singer acts and does whatever they want. The instrumentals sound like that of a video game– very upbeat and guitar heavy. The song sounds, musically, like the song that plays right at a huge boss fight.

ANY MINUTE NOW touches on the feeling of not knowing what to do next, it models the confusion we face. It’s almost as if you're waiting for the next bad thing, I feel like ANY MINUTE NOW  more touches on the anticipation of something bad happening rather than it happening itself. Trying to live in the moment before it arrives.

GIRLS NEED GUNS. We’re all going to want to sit down for this. The final track on Jinx, GIRLS NEED GUNS, is a mostly spoken piece. It features Awsten Knight’s mother, Ginny Knight. The track is her discussing abortion rights, how women have been viewed since she was young, and how they’re still treated today. The only part of this song that is sung is the chorus, and it adds on to what Mrs. Knight had been saying before. The chorus’s final line is “The girls need guns.” The song is a very important, informative piece. Breaking professionalism for a moment… I truly do not think I have cried to a piece of media like that in a long time. It is a beautiful track with such serious meaning. The track is a perfect closer to this record.

Overall, Waterparks took us all on an emotional journey with Jinx. It’s a mix of hype, danceable songs, mixed in with serious, relatable tracks. We at The Groovy Moo are so happy about its release, and absolutely will be streaming this album nonstop. Huge thank you to Waterparks for sharing this record with us.