The JPO prove that music can be both catchy and clever. This CD is full of shocking tempo changes, unusual (for rock) instrumentation, styles ranging from 1920s jazz to death metal, and generally great musicianship. But none of that distracts from the fact that you will find yourself humming their merry melodies long after you reach your office. Highly recommended!

Think Circus Vargas meets Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and the Tosca Tango Orchestra. This album is truly a rift in the daily atmosphere of copycat, non-daring redundancies. Full of odd time signatures, precisely orchestrated instrumentation and wild outbursts of spontaneity and chaos, this album is like an eerie trip through time and space. Melodies from the clarinet, trumpet, accordion, and violin interweave and swirl until the listener is left with an abrupt halt or change. The packaging even features various pictures of the band members sporting porky pig masks. Spoken word poetry and haunting vocals touching on life's ongoing drudgery, tribulations, money and relationships, accompanied by the occasional laugh track or operatic blast, makes a mockery of the general ignoramus expectancies. The Carrot and the Stick feels like a jukebox touching on so many cultures and genres. Tracks like "Bullfighting" boasting great guitar work and lyrics alike, or "Spanish Inquisition" summoning the likes of a Mr. Bungle-esque Cabaret Dancer. Even a Surf Swing vibe is put forth on "The Promise Of Reward Combined With Threatened Punishment". Track 11, "These Evidents I Hold To Be Truths" drops in with enough funk and sarcastic wit to put a closing to this record, but it drones on with ten more tracks that are sure to be exerpts from a horror film soundtrack, all leading into a couple instrumental numbers that snuck in the back door of the album when the ticket collector wasn't looking. Aside from the occasional benign feeling or lack of stimulation, The Carrot and the Stick is a damn good independent effort by the Juan Prophet Organization, and it is always nice to step away from the normal.

The Carrot and The Stick is a breathtaking and compelling rock orchestra that levels the playing field of so-called independent local bands. Juan Prophet Organization, a family of seven musicians, spent over a year between Spring of 2003 and Summer of 2004 laboring to sculpt this creation of tremendously dynamic wonder. Filled with alluring elements of modern rock, hints of jazz, and strong influences in classical modal scale structures, this record contains over twenty songs, yet breathes and flows and moves sometimes swiftly, sometimes slowly, but always smoothly from song to song. The work behind this record is genuinely laced with a passion for creative musicianship, with each member carrying an equal amount of powerful melodic and instrumental command. To describe the music or its mood is quite a strange task. Overall, it is dark in atmosphere, ethereal, and melancholy in scope, yet at times humorous and full of shades of color, conjuring images of a year spent touring with a traveling circus. Well, this circus delivers well-crafted songs containing a broad tapestry of changes, both in key and tempo. The record could also be called really weird and may be hard to understand to the average listener, but further listening is recommended to fully appreciate the band's unusual style. For more courageous and sophisticated listeners, The Carrot and The Stick is a feast to be devoured and savored for the ages. This is the kind of music that can change one's manners and moods largely, no matter what a person may initially be feeling upon popping in the disc. It deserves more time than it's whimsical title may suggest. This final product is certainly without a doubt a strong effort by the entire group.