If you liked Stolen Jars’ first album, then you will love their new album Kept. The indie music project of singers Cody Fitzgerald and Molly Grund, Stolen Jars takes their inspiration from popular artists such as Elvis Costello, Sufjan Stevens and Dirty Projectors.

The intro guitar in Waves is peaceful and sweet. It’s one of those songs you listen to on a relaxing day. The title track Kept sounds a little jazzy, but with a little rock in it. Much like Waves, Another November has a soft intro guitar that’s just so soothing to listen to. Glow is a little mysterious in the very beginning, but it starts to go into a bright and exciting beat. The guitar strumming starts to pick up a bit, and the drums start to ring out, giving this track outstanding energy.

I really like Wreaths, and here’s why: it’s the handclaps. The opening handclaps are so creative; I just had to keep rewinding the song just so I could hear them. Still—he held us, covered stands out from the rest. It is the only instrumental track on this album, and quite possibly the shortest. One might think it was an interlude between performances. The claps, guitar strumming and drums banging in Bright Red make it a fun and spirited song. The dueling guitars in Folded Out steal the show, as does the flute. The guitar and drums in For Dan make it sound soothing and they give it an awesome sound. Our musical journey comes to a close with the final track Wheel. The opening guitar has a beautiful and peaceful melody. Another interesting thing about this song is that some of the lyrics are rapped and sung. Now that’s impressive.

Guitars and drums can be the ideal choices for an album, either by themselves or playing alongside other instruments. Both are what made the songs For Dan, Wheel, Bright Red and Folded Out enjoyable. The hand clapping we heard in Wreaths is also something to remember. Fans will have their favorite songs, but that is something that will stand out to them. For those reasons, Kept is an album that will keep you coming back for more.

Final Grade: A

About The Author

Lauren Beverly

Music Reviewer

I love to write and have been doing so since the age of eight. Fictional stories have always been a favorite of mine, because it gives me a chance to be creative and to express myself in a multitude of ways. On more than one occasion, a song proved to be the inspiration to several stories I have written. Believe it or not, some of those songs were on soundtracks! That’s mostly what I listen to, aside from hits from the 1950’s up to the 1980’s. I’ve learned that anything can be the inspiration to a story, even a poster from the 1990’s or a DVD cover.

I’ve lived in Upper Marlboro all of my life and spent much of my childhood watching cartoons of all kinds, and listening to my older sister’s cassette tapes. Growing up, I listened to everything Jackson related, Paula Abdul, Elton John, and even the controversial group Milli Vanilli. As a teenager, I continued to listen to old-school hits and that was pretty much all I liked, aside from listening to all of Michael Jackson’s music. To this day, I still love old-school hits. That hasn’t changed.

I own a variety of CDs from artists such as Styx, The BeeGees, Michael Jackson, Queen, The Yellow Submarine Soundtrack, and many others. When a soundtrack comes out, there will always be one specific song from that album that I’ll love. It never fails.

I’ve graduated from Bowie State University in December 2013 with a B.A. degree in English.

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