Album rollouts can be a tedious art form, entirely reflecting the structure and message of an impending album within a PR landscape while giving spotlight and focus to a select few singles that will undoubtedly do the heavy lifting for most casual listeners in a musical artist’s audience. The distinction of an album single doesn’t necessarily dictate the strongest songs on the album, but a single should act as a thesis for an album. For Jason Shand’s sophomoric release The Petty Narcissist, two singles have been released — “I Know,” the initial Dave Matthews Band-driven single, which has now been followed up by “$$$ in the Bank (Let Go),” and if these are the thesis and musical blueprint for what listeners can expect from The Petty Narcissist, we’re in for a treat.
“$$$ in the Bank (Let Go)” is a knockout second single with enough gusto to almost overshadow its much more soft-spoken predecessor, “I Know.” The duality between the two songs will certainly give a wide array of sounds for Jason Shand to play within across his upcoming second album, which raises expectations for The Petty Narcissist exponentially. With “$$$ in the Bank” in particular, Shand delivers a pop single that will take fans back to the late 90s and early aughts as it boldly wears radio pop-rock sensibilities on its sleeve as seen by trailblazing acts such as Train, Counting Crows, and Jason Mraz. The circular return to the softer rock stylings of such acts has been on the rise ever since folk-rock enthusiasm grabbed listeners en masse via the Mumford & Sons pipeline, and Jason Shand will be a more than worthy name to add to the growing return to such an understated genre.
While the single’s title can feel a little niche with its use of literal dollar symbols, this unique approach is just one of the many facets within Shand’s presentation that give his music the upper hand. In addition to an undeniably catchy (albeit simple) chorus, the instrumentation on “$$$ in the Bank” will give audiences enough to dissect and chew on during their return listens. The breezy guitar and snappy percussion complement each other extremely well, painting a laidback portrait of a confident and cool Shand before bombastic electric guitar explodes within the song’s bridge almost exactly halfway into the track’s runtime. There’s even a touch of flute in the song’s intro that gives the song a rich texture, no pun intended.
Jason Shand is undoubtedly on the track to success with his latest single paving the way even further; “$$$ in the Bank (Let Go)” gives listeners a catchy, indie pop-rock song they can sing along to that carries a decently heavy message about growing apart from someone you want so desperately to love, which is what comprises all of the great makings of a standout pop hit. There’s no slowing Shand’s incline at this point, but that’s not a bother to him — with the money in the bank and a bright future ahead, there’s nowhere to go but above and beyond.
Chadwick Easton
The music of Jason Shand has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division. Learn more https://musikandfilm.com