ALBUM REVIEW: Discipline – Headphone Jacks
Some of the best musical pieces come together by chance. A passing moment that is captured like lightning in a bottle and is committed to tape (or stream depending on the year). This is exactly the case with Finland’s own HEADPHONE JACKS. The band formed following an impromptu session between bassist/vocalist Jaako Anttonen and guitarist J-P Herlevi noodling around on the computer at Herlevi’s home studio before deciding that the results were too good to pass up on and decided to form a band. The band have released a number of singles to date, and now in 2025 they have their debut full length album Discipline locked and loaded and ready to release upon the unsuspecting world.
From the very opening notes of Space Ghost the nostalgia washes over the listener with the waves of fuzz. The nuances and licks from the guitars are thrown in and amongst the vocals to add a little extra flavour as the song swells, ebbs, and flows before kicking in with a wall of heavily distorted guitars. This has all the hallmarks of a classic KYUSS track, whilst feeling original and modern at the same time. Proving that the lads know how to pay homage to their heroes whilst staying original and exciting.
The dirty bass tone on All The Zombies is a thing of beauty and rumbles wonderfully underneath the high gain guitars with the feedback filling in the gaps in a way that is perfectly in keeping with the grunge sound of the early nineties. The band makes no bones about the fact that they are incredibly guitar driven in their song-writing and why on earth not when they steal the show like this with the choice of tone and the swagger of the explorative riffs.
Lunatic is a much slower burning track. The first minute or two of the song is spent building up layers and layers of distortion as the listener waits patiently for the inevitably infectious riffs to drop. The harmonised guitar licks add a whole extra layer of melody to the track and the groove provided by the rhythm section is undeniable. The wait for the song to pick up was absolutely worth it, as the payoff is one of the best examples of stoner rock you are likely to hear this year.
Pharaoh’s Cane provides a welcome change of pace, and a much-needed injection of energy to proceedings just at the point where things start to feel a little more lacklustre. This is HEADPHONES JACK at their most direct and the results make you question why this is not utilised more often as the song is engaging, exciting and one that will certainly be a highlight of a setlist whenever the boys take to the stage. The bridge section of the song provides one of the coolest down tempo riffs on the entire release, demonstrating the band’s love for all things southern rock. This is quickly followed by a superb vocal harmony to close out the song and signing off the best track on the album in the perfect way. Saviour picks up where its predecessor left off with catchy vocal harmonies and well-crafted guitar lines that are not too dissimilar from genre standard-bearers UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS. By this point in the album the boys have really found their stride, laying down their finest work to date.
Towards the back end of the album, we find the song Pawns which clocks in at more than seven minutes long. The sombre keys, echoing drums, and melancholic, clean guitar shows the band at their most progressive, with the distorted lead guitar coming in and taking things up to the next level. the fact that the band waited this long into the album to drop a song of this kind of creative ambition is almost a shame, as they clearly excel when they push their boundaries in such a way. The QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE-inspired gang vocals add more texture to the already packed sonic soundscape and show ensure that there is no semblance of empty space left on the track.
On the whole Discipline is an interesting album. There is nothing poor here at all, and in fact all of the songs have a decent level of song-writing about them. However, it is in the second half of the album where the lads let themselves explore their musical boundaries further that the real teeth of the band are shown. It will be interesting to see if they follow these more expansive ideas down the rabbit whole on their next release and here’s hoping they do.
Rating: 7/10
Discipline is out now via Inverse Records.
Like HEADPHONE JACKS on Facebook.