79. Single Review of Pity Party by Western Jaguar
Originally Published on January 9th, 2025
About the Artist
What can I say, except that “The struggle is real?” As an independent artist, I know how difficult it is to think of ways to catch the attention of a viewer. Every day, I spend some form of time thinking of the hook that might possibly help my music get noticed. Honestly, it becomes less about music and more about finding a trend that sticks. Before we know it, we introverted artisty-types have found ourselves playing the part of eccentric content creators.
I try to be mindful of that when I see other artists putting themselves out there. I like to stop and give them a moment of my time. We all deserve that moment. I don’t always do it. But it’s always great when I do because I never know what I will find. As was the case with Western Jaguar.
Last month, while scrolling the ole’ Threads feed, I stumbled upon this artist who had committed himself to posting every day for a month until his newly released song, Little Self-Indulgent reached 1,000 streams. After watching his video, I was sold. I was going to help. I followed him, I listened to the song, I engaged with him, I reposted his videos. It was amazing. His goal was to reach 1,000 in a month and I think he met the goal in a little more than a week, ending out with over 2,000 for the month. The song is well over 3,000 now! In that time, Western Jaguar was able to showcase the kind of gentleman he was and I got to know the music he was producing as well.
Hailing from Mission, British Columbia, Western Jaguar is the stage name of Jeffrey Trainor. Boasting a fresh take on Indie Rock, Pop Rock, and other genres like Dream Pop, Western Jaguar has the musical prowess to pave a way in the underground scene. What’s particularly attractive is the in-depth relatability of his lyrics. He has the tendency to hone in on thoughts and feelings we all have but don’t really think to write or sing about. His new release is a prime example of that.
About the Song
Pity Party Was released by Weatern Jaguar on January 3rd, 2025. At Two Minutes and Forty Seconds, it features Western Jaguar on vocals, and he is accompanied by a full-traditional rock band; acoustic and electric guitar, piano and synths, bass guitar, and programmed drums.
About the Music
Melodically, Pity Party has a very bright and happy sound. It is performed in a very traditional structures style; verse, followed by chorus, with an intro and outro performed instrumentally and then he tags out with the chorus.
The instrumental arrange showcases a very bright piano in the instrumental sections that really hook the listener to the performance. Instrumentally, this song is performed well and Western Jaguar sticks to a simple delivery, focusing his message on making a lyrical connection to the listener.
Vocally, he performs in a lower register but hints at the ability to access a higher range with some of his backing vocals. With the lower register, at times, the vocal part does start to bleed into the mix a little bit but it’s not terribly noticeable. The vocal performance follows suit with the instrumental. He’s proven capable but sticks to a structured, simple performance; providing a vessel of sorts to deliver lyrics that were meant to make the real connection to the listener.
About the Lyrics
Lyrically, I really connected with this song because there is so much relatable content in the message Western Jaguar is trying to convey. Honestly, I think many people would be able to relate.
“I’m scared but not of the real things. No crashing and burning, see that doesn’t haunt me. I’m scared, scared of the mundane. Like spending days working, and try to make it through the day.”
See what I mean? When I open that thought process up, I totally get what the author is saying. Sure, we all have irrational fears of catastrophe. But our real fears are related to the notion that we want our lives to matter. We want to experience. We fear complacency and wasting our time.
“People always ask why I never pick up the phone. The truth is I’d rather just be alone. All my life I’ve been pressed to the bone. Insincere steady is on my own.”
I also find impactful meaning in what he is saying here. As I get older, I find myself, making less and less connections with people, in part because I’m less tolerable of compromising my morals. I have a certain set of beliefs and I like to associate myself with people who share those beliefs. I used to be more tolerant of people who had different beliefs but that tolerance does eventually go away. I don’t know if that like is my issue or others’, but realistically, it doesn’t really matter.
My favorite line of the song is in the second verse: “I’m scared, scared of the new way that people are using their mouth as a weapon.”
To me, that can really be the sum of all fears today in society. How desensitizing our society can be to humanity. It is alarming because of the pathways this behavior can created. When we stop seeing one another as people, it makes it easier to harm each other.
Western Jaguar has really put a common thought process into some really thoughtful concepts in Pity Party. He has tapped into the societal collective anxieties that we are so triggered by, we tend to push them in the recesses of our mind so that, when they’re brought up again, we are jolted by the relapsing anxious feeling of remembering these fears still exist.
Final Thoughts
In spite of the melancholic subject of this song, Weatern Jaguar impresses with disciplined musicianship and expertly delivered lyrics with his first release of 2025, Pity Party.
Western Jaguar is a proven songwriter. I would love to hear how he can tap some of the potential he has teased in his releases with more diversified musicianship. There’s nothing wrong with how he is performing now; it’s technically good in every way. There is nothing that hints at any problems with his musical performance. Essentially, he is leaving his listeners with wanting more.
That’s never a bad thing.
Don’t forget to subscribe to his YouTube channel as well!
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