The songs comprising Sunshower—produced by the band and noted engineer Chris Ribando (The Black Crowes, Priestbird, Mary J. Blige)—blend contemporary styles with a myriad of classic influences, from Dylan and The Beatles to Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac to The Police and Talking Heads. But you wouldn’t immediately hear them. The band has a knack for combining all of those influences into something utterly vital and wholly their own, as they’ve done on first single “Flaming Arrow,” a shimmering, ringing acoustic folk tune shot through with a bumping bassline and New Orleans inspired drum groove.
Sunshower dazzles on tracks like the dancefloor-friendly “Simple Stones,” filled with handclaps and soulful economic riffing that boasts a bass line for the ages while blending ‘80s Stones and MGMT. The epic opener “Volcano” melds The Beach Boys with The Flaming Lips, while delivering one of the disc’s best choruses. If Ishibashi conjures The Shins on “Find Me a Place,” he drops vintage, finger-picking folk on disc-closer “People in the Mountain.” As guitarist Zac Colwell puts it: “We can sound like Simon & Garfunkel, The Kooks, or even from a webisode of Yacht Rock.”
If they had their way, listeners would ingest each track on Sunshower as they would a new chapter in a never-boring book. Says singer/multi-instrumentalist K Ishibashi, “We approach every song like, ‘Will people be able to listen to this over and over again?’ ”
“Each song is like a little world,” adds Colwell. “We’re the same four guys playing the music on each track, but we just like to get way down in there and explore that little world.”
What K Ishibashi (lead vocals), Zac Colwell (lead guitar), Dave Heilman (drums) and Pat Dougherty (bass) have created as a result is a hook-heavy album tailor-made for our ADD times. And that mix-it-up mentality suits the band, as its songs are written by either Colwell or Ishibashi, each of whom have opposing approaches to lyric and melody.
“K leaves things a little more open for the listener,” says Colwell, who also plays keyboards and flute and adds backing vocals. “I consciously try to have a little narrative, and tell a story.” Counters Ishibashi, who plays guitar and violin in addition to singing lead on Sunshower: “His songs are pretty dark. I write bright, fun stuff, a lot of it stemming from one really big emotional experience. I’m more analytical, more left brain, he’s more right.”
“If there’s a theme to the album, it would definitely be bittersweetness,” Colwell continues.
“There’s definitely some humor, playfulness, but there’s also this twenty-something, we-have-to-temper-our-excitement sort of thing, especially being New Yorkers. Our elation is always checked, and some of the lyrics reflect that.” Bittersweet can be contradictory in terms, but in this case, these four unique personalities colorfully complement one another.
Although officially formed in 2003, the seeds for Jupiter One were planted in 2000 when Austin native Colwell and Ishibashi (raised in Virginia) met while working as touring musicians with a traveling circus, the Barnum Kaleidoscope. Bonding over their love for all music from soul to classical Indian, the duo began performing instrumental music in New York in the early 2000s, gradually working their way toward pop music incorporating vocals, and gigs at Pianos, Arlene’s Grocery and other reputable venues around Manhattan. “We noticed that once we started singing, girls started coming to shows,” laughs Colwell.
A former member of the popular STOMP performance collective, New Jersey-born drummer Heilman, caught an early incarnation of Jupiter One at a now-defunct bar in New York’s Lower East Side. “There was a unique, analog keyboard sound, something you don’t really hear anymore, especially then, in 2004,” he says, “and it just created this incredible sense of nostalgia. It made me feel like the band’s music was already history. It totally felt classic, and it made me sit up on the edge of my seat.” The current incarnation of the band coalesced with the addition of Delaware-raised bassist Pat Dougherty.
Taking its name from the spaceship in the ‘60s television show Lost in Space, Jupiter One made its recorded debut in 2005 with a self-titled EP, three songs from which made the transition—albeit in re-recorded form—to the group’s official self-titled debut album. The songs on Jupiter One scored the band a slew of high-level song-placements in TV and film projects (including the upcoming indie film Broken Windows, MLB Opening Day ‘09, NASCAR Talladega Race ’09 NBC’s Heroes Tribute, and the Sci-Fi channel’s Flash Gordon), as well as a number of video games (Madden NFL ’08, NHL ’08, etc.), and commercials (Payless‘09, Mazda ‘08).
Behind the new wave-inspired Jupiter One, the band members—having quit their day jobs—criss-crossed the States, building a fan base and surviving on Subway’s five-dollar footlong special, laughs Heilman. “We spent 14 months sluggin’ it out in the clubs,” he says. “We did not want to be some sort of boring web sensation. We wanted to meet our fans face to face.” And the work has paid off. “It’s definitely a show we’ve put time into, so it’s not just four guys playing a song, it’s supposed to be a spectacle,” says Colwell.
With producer/engineer Ribando at the controls, Sunshower embraces warmer, analog sounds and vintage recording techniques. “It’s the sound of the four of us playing together, rather than layering in the studio,” says Colwell. “Instead of piecemeal, it’s the way we actually sound live.”
Forgetting the sound for a minute, and thinking about the songs, Ishibashi adds: “We just want people to internalize them. We want Sunshower to be a journey.”
Turn Up the Radio
Jupiter One Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A paper or a pen
A movie that was never meant to end
The kind of silence that will drown you out
The beating of the air
A mystery in need of no repair
Suddenly
You beside of me
Turn up the radio
Was it a fatalistic cameo, to show up in a dress?
My reaction was mental I confess
And all the shadows of your funny eyes
Were made for you to stare
I'm glad it was a casual affair
Suddenly
You beside of me
Left alone
Turn up the radio
Hey you
Feel me
Was it worth an apology?
Someday
You'll see
That it's
Not a democrazy
Someday
You'll see
Believe me
Someday
You'll see
Believe me
Someday
You'll see
That it's
Not a democrazy
Suddenly
You beside of me
Left alone
Turn up the radio
Suddenly
You beside of me
Left alone
Turn up the radio
The lyrics to Jupiter One’s song “Turn Up the Radio” seem to speak about the unpredictable and spontaneous nature of love and romance. It begins by describing an “elemental kind of rhapsody” that can be represented by just a “paper or a pen” or a “movie that was never meant to end”. These lines may imply that love can arise out of nothing or anything, and that it has a way of taking hold of us and becoming its own self-sustaining entity.
The following lines seem to refer to the singer being pulled into a state of silence or being overwhelmed by the “beating of the air”, but a feeling of mystery keeps them hooked. Suddenly, the person they’ve been waiting for or thinking about shows up and they feel “left alone” without explanation. These conflicting and confusing emotions are captured in the chorus, where the singer seeks solace in the simple act of turning up the radio. The lyrics then mention an encounter between the two individuals, where the singer seems to be caught off guard by the other person’s presence (perhaps at a party?), and is struck by the “shadows of [their] funny eyes”. Overall, the lyrics of “Turn Up the Radio” suggest that love is unpredictable and often takes us by surprise, but that it can also provide a sense of excitement and hope amidst the confusion.
Line by Line Meaning
An elemental kind of rhapsody
A powerful and intense feeling, much like a symphony that touches the core of our being
A paper or a pen
The simplest of tools that can still hold tremendous power to create and transform
A movie that was never meant to end
A moment or experience that feels so perfect, it seems like it should last forever
The kind of silence that will drown you out
A silence that is so loud, it overpowers even our own thoughts and feelings
The beating of the air
The sound of our own heart and breath, an ever-present reminder that we are alive
A mystery in need of no repair
Something that is beautiful in its enigma, with no need for explanation or solution
Suddenly
You beside of me
Left alone
Turn up the radio
The sudden shift in mood when brought back to the present moment, and the need to amplify the energy around us
Was it a fatalistic cameo, to show up in a dress?
A moment that may seem destined to happen, like a scene in a play, forcing us to question the role fate plays in our lives
My reaction was mental I confess
The reaction to this moment was purely emotional and subconscious, showing the complexity of the human mind
And all the shadows of your funny eyes
Were made for you to stare
The unique features that make us who we are, meant to be admired and appreciated by others
I'm glad it was a casual affair
Grateful for a moment that was relaxed and easy, with no pressure or stress
Hey you
Feel me
Was it worth an apology?
Asking for validation and questioning the impact of our actions on others
Someday
You'll see
That it's
Not a democrazy
A hope that someday others will understand that true happiness and success cannot be a matter of democratic voting
Believe me
A plea to be trusted and believed, especially in matters of the heart
Suddenly
You beside of me
Left alone
Turn up the radio
The desire to live in the moment and amplify the energy around us, especially when sharing it with someone special
Suddenly
You beside of me
Left alone
Turn up the radio
The repetition of this chorus emphasizes the importance of embracing the present moment and savoring each experience as it happens
Contributed by Declan C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@TF2_Roz257
@@makkylaproductions6563 oh really
You forgot about:
scanners
Compliment each other like colours
Stand up for rock and roll
Jackie Says
Fa fa fa
This is my head exploding
It isn’t just those two, nhl 08 has really good songs
NHL 08 has the best sound track, get with the EA prime times
@MyNameIsNidos
Been going on a nostalgic trip tonight, but this one made me cry. Too many memories of NHL 08. Not my favorite game in the series, but the one with the most memories. Love this song too much. I miss being young, careless, and not having to worry about life as much as now. Wish I could go back just for a day.
EDIT 02 January 2024: I posted this comment in July 2016, and so much has changed in my life since then. Been through 3 jobs and a lot of lows in life, but things always got better. It's funny to me, I said I miss being young and careless in the comment, but now 7 and a half years later I feel the same about being 16 and writing that comment. Man, this song still brings me back and I listen to it often. I sometimes still wish I could go back to the simpler times when I didn't have to go to work every day and everything was so good. I hope all of you reading this have a great day, and enjoy life in the moment. You never know when everything can change. Much love, Happy New Year <3
(funnily enough I posted this on July 29th 2016, which is exactly 7 years before I started my current job that I absolutely love. Funny how things end up that way, huh?)
@stevens4094
MyNameIsNidos damn man this hit me, I remember playing nhl 08 when I was 13, now I'm 21 and these soundtracks always bring back so much nostalgia
@herkkoofficial9642
I almost started to cry hearing my favorite nhl soundtrack ever :')
@worm0dyssey
deep
@aquariusNA
Likewise brother
@M1FrankGaming
In my nhl 08 devils franchise. I traded for certain players i liked in my first year, played every game on the top difficulty and my devils ended up 79-1-2. I played EVERY game, i had a rule of no restarts. That is my most memorable hockey game and that's why, and a small reason why I am a devils fan forever.
@WristFreeze97
I remember winning the Stanley Cup in NHL08, this song came out when it was showing the top moments from my games :) Epic.
@WristFreeze97
RADICALKILLER8 I'm pretty sure it was 08 because I never owned 2006 and I don't think it's from 09 or 2005
@denisslovakia
Yessss!
@GamerzInTheShadows
just played NHL 08 yesterday game is still fun and songs are great