Formed 15 years ago while the members were college students in Washington, D.C., Jukebox the Ghost’s discography is one of the most consistent in contemporary Alternative Pop.
The trio — pianist Ben Thornewill, guitarist Tommy Siegel and drummer Jesse Kristin — moved to Philly after graduation and its debut album, Let Live & Let Gives, caught a lot people’s attention, including Ben Folds, one of the band’s more obvious influences (Queen is the other artist referenced in every single JtG write-up, including, now, this one) who took the group on tour. The band’s hyper-melodic sound — danceable and technologically modern, but timeless in its Pop song structuring — was even more fully realized on 2010’s Everything Under the Sun, JtG’s first album for the Yep Roc label, which helped push the group into the national consciousness.
Though they never stopped touring to satiate their fervent devotees across the country, the band took some time shaping the follow-up to its 2014 self-titled release. The wait for new recorded material was over this year, though; in late March, the band dropped Off to the Races, its fifth full-length effort. The album hit No. 5 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart (and No. 13 on the Independent Albums listing) and Pop Matters called it a return to the band’s “weirder” roots and JtG’s best album since Everything Under the Sun.
