Jack's Mannequin- The Glass Passenger
CD Review
Artist: Jack's Mannequin
Label: Warner Bros.
Released: September 30th, 2008

Reviewed By: Sarah Miller (Vancouver Correspondent)

"I think a lot of what this record represents to me is trying to overcome something and trying to get to the other side," Jack's Mannequin front man Andrew McMahon tells us on his website. He is speaking from experience; the 26 year old is no stranger to personal battles.

When his pop-punk quintet Something Corporate decided to take a break in the summer of 2004, McMahon turned to the piano and began writing. Over the course of the next year he recorded Everything in Transit under the moniker Jack's Mannequin, but on the day he finished mastering the last song, McMahon was diagnosed with leukemia. He was forced to postpone all music-related activities and undergo chemotherapy. Now, three years and one stem cell transplant from his sister later, McMahon is cancer free and set to release his second album with Jack's Mannequin.

The Glass Passenger is full of powerfully raw and emotional songs. It is not an album specifically about beating cancer, but it deals with struggle and suffering in a way that finds hope and light at the end of the tunnel. The first single, 'The Resolution' sets the optimistic tone as McMahon sings "I'm alive/And I don't need a witness/To know that I survived/I'm not looking for forgiveness/I just need light/A light in the dark as I search for the Resolution." Other songs throughout the album are just as hopeful, including the moody, layered track 'Swim' where McMahon sings, "I swim for brighter days/Despite the absence of sun/Choking on salt water/I'm not giving in/Swim."

Musically, The Glass Passenger is not particularly interesting or creative. The one exception to this is the piano driven 'Caves' which plays with scales and dissonance and breaks into a powerful anthem in the bridge. But for the most part, the real power of The Glass Passenger is in the lyrics and subject matter of the songs rather than the music.

This is a solid pop-rock album and fans of Jack's Mannequin will not be disappointed, but overall The Glass Passenger is more of the same from the SoCal balladeers. If you are looking for a new and exciting sound or a reinvention of the emo-rock genre you might want to pass. On the other hand, the unabashed honesty and hope that flow out of McMahon's lyrics just might be what you need to get you through a bad day.

Track Listing:
Crashin'
Spinning
Swim
American Love
What Gets You Off
Suicide Blonde
Annie Use Your Telescope
Bloodshot
Drop Out- The So Unknown
Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)
The Resolution
Orphans
Caves
Miss California