Album Notes

Press:

..."this Portland quartet's new album, Trust Everyone Before They Break Your Heart, is a gorgeous, lush collection of Britpop tinged with classic Northwest melancholy."

- SPIN MAGAZINE March 2007

"As the name implies, “Trust Everyone Before They Break Your Heart” is a record’s worth of ambitious, yearning songs that aim for the heart rather than the head.
The band scores a bull’s-eye with the centerpiece “Welcome Here” – a mesmerizing crescendo of a song with a gorgeous melody and a sentiment as inviting as the title – there’s not a misstep among the 11 tracks.
Songs like opening track “Runaground” and the urgent single-in-waiting “Lights Out” are instantly addictive and so confident that it seems strange Jonah hasn’t already outgrown the “local” tag."

– PORTLAND TRIBUNE March 2007

"A lot of care went into making Trust Everyone Before They Break Your Heart sound thick, crisp, shimmering and perfectly balanced. Jonah's rocking-ass wall of sound cannot be denied.“Welcome Here” is a prime example of that... he (Henry Curl) clearly has a lot of range and control, and the song showcases that as well as it does the wave-crashing drums and Edge-style lead guitar work."

- WILLAMETTE WEEK March 2007

"Sweet but sad, intense but relenting, Jonah's 11-track follow-up to 2001's "Save the Swimmer," sounds like Coldplay would if they were from the Pacific Northwest... i.e., a less polite ripping-out of one's heart. Precise, thick rhythm lumbering under guitar melodies that are perched like clouds setting pace on the leading edge of a storm. Shimmering vocal layers alternately cascading and floating. Lamenting piano and Johnny Greenwood-influenced guitar work with sudden vocal hooks that call to mind those dewy-eyed life moments you wish you could get back. The final track is a six-minute guitarfest that gradually spreads out over the beat of an ocean-sized heart, like reaching for the surface through slow loss of consciousness. Track to track, the themes and sounds change, but the band's power and tenacity are unwavering; they can always get you with their iron-clad hook or a clever turn of phrase."

- CDBABY March 2007

"For a Pacific Northwest band to get favorable comparisons to Coldplay and Radiohead is no easy feat, and the good news in Jonah's case is that they're entirely deserved."

- STUDIO CITY SUN March 2007

"Releasing its "Trust Everyone Before They Break Your Heart" album, this Portland quartet continues the tradition of sweeping, lush pop-rock from the Pacific Northwest."

- THE OREGONIAN March 2007

Bio:

After the release of the grand and thematic Save the Swimmer, and the bitter sweet pop symphony of the subsequent Safe Distance EP, it was time for Portland, OR band Jonah to step back and take a look at where they wanted to go musically with their next offering. They had won over fans and critics alike with their adherence to the majestic side of what pop music could be; something resembling early U2 earnestness meets the hypnotic and dark beauty of Radiohead. Tracks from both records had made their way onto nationally syndicated TV hits and garnered radio rotation as well as landed spots on many compilation discs nationwide.

But the band was evolving and needed the experience of a seasoned producer to guide them. They chose Marshall Altman, a veteran from the world of A&R at both Columbia and Hollywood Records and a songwriter/producer with many notable artists in his resume (Marc Broussard, Zebrahead, Matt Nathenson). Altman’s friend and colleague, Joe Zook (Modest Mouse, Counting Crows, Remy Zero), was enlisted to engineer the recording. The result is the long awaited second full-length album from Jonah: Trust Everyone Before They Break Your Heart, a tightly wound pop testament that displays the breadth of the band’s talents.

From the frenzied and chaotic avalanche of Time’s Up to the cinematic dreampop of The Joy of Drowning, the songs are statements to the whole: portraits of love and loss, the betrayal of the heart and the elusive promise of happiness and success, all set against a backdrop of eternal optimism for the human condition. The centerpiece of Henry Curl’s bright and elegant tenor is echoed in the shimmering waves of Chris Hayes’ understated, less is more guitar playing, pinned down by the concise and seemless pulse of Matt Roger’s bass and Jake Endicott’s drums. It is the sound of a band evolving into something brand new, without loosing what made them so appealing in the first place.