Recently, four students at Jefferson released their self-titled debut album,“The Axis.” The album was performed live at senior Giovanni Jimenez’s house on Feb. 8 to an open audience.

“The Axis” includes Jimenez and senior Jeff Horowitz on guitar, senior Parag Shukla drumming, senior Alex Le Floch doing vocals and senior Tom Stone playing bass. The five songs on the album are were almost all written by Jimenez, with one partially attributed to Horowitz.

Two guest appearances from other Jefferson students outside the Axis members are notable. In “Perfect Picture,” senior Hannah Pho accompanies with the piano briefly. Additionally, senior Tara Gupta provided artwork for the album cover, a simplistic design that adds physical character and additional meaning to the band’s work.

The five songs on the album are, in order, “Soggy Weather,” “Shower Song,” “Picture Perfect,” “May Queen” and “Land of the Sun.” The first two songs on the album, “Soggy Weather” and “Shower Song” were vaguely similar. However, while both were mostly active songs the former was more powerful with a subtly energizing percussion background. “Shower Song,” on the other hand, is much more drawn out, but is just as likely to get a pulse going with its staccato end to the chorus.

The next song on the album, “Picture Perfect,” was the ideal transition to the next three songs. Featuring a smoother sound than the earlier songs, the vocals were lengthened in a way that seems as if it would be appealing, but unfortunately were lost beneath the rest of the song’s sound.

Second to last, “May Queen,” has already become many students’ favorite part of the album.  While the sound is much slower, with a folk rock edge to it, the accompanying eerie whistling set a perfect tone throughout the song. Additionally, unlike in the rest of the songs from “The Axis,” the lyrics were much more prominent.

Finally, the album closed up in an apparently eight and a half minute song, “Land of the Sun.” The band’s final number began with a enthusiastic beat at the beginning, and following on the trend of “May Queen” remained at a level that didn’t overshadow the vocals. Although the song ended only a few minutes in, the band’s final piece, unnamed but following the theme of “White Noise,” had a unique sound of its own that was well worth waiting to listen to.

Despite its status as a debut album, the entirety of “The Axis” had remarkably well-written lyrics, avoiding clichés and endlessly repeating choruses while remaining artfully concise.

The highlight of the album was without a doubt “May Queen,” a song likely to haunt even after the beat of the rest have faded. However, the apparent transition between the sounds pursued by the band throughout the album, “The Axis” lacked a comprehensiveness, leaving it with an incomplete feeling.

Despite that, overall, the album was a short and enjoyable listen, with several songs included that are likely to leave audiences humming along even after the last beat ends.

The album is currently being sold for only five dollars by all of the band members. However, for anyone who wants to listen to it before they buy a copy, the music is also published online.