IN HIS FREE TIME BATMAN LAYS DOWN THUMPIN’ BASS LINES. Shown here rocking the now defunct Bar Chord, The Jaggernauts have been cramming local amps with rawk (in one form or another) since 2003.

The ever-popular, Eau Claire-based band The Jaggernauts will once again bring rock music joy to the ears of the masses with their newest album release since late 2005. The Jaggernauts’ second album, titled We Control the Horizontal, possesses more progressive power pop, where their first CD’s melodies stayed strictly with pop sensibilities with a dash of rock peppered in.

Joseph Gunderson, drummer of The Jaggernauts, said their debut CD, released by Power Tool Records based in New Zealand and locally by Krapp Records once run by Chris Jackson and band member Noel Hanson, had six songs that were written and banged out in the recording studio in a very short amount of time. This time around, Gunderson and his fellow band mates, Hanson on bass and lead vocals; Christopher Ramey hittin’ up the keyboard, guitar, and contributing to background vocals; and Matt Florence on lead and rhythm guitars, spent a good 10 months just recording this release with finesse. While the song writing process starts out with a “nucleus,” all band members contributed to the songwriting process to produce We Control the Horizontal, which has 10 songs that The Jaggernauts have been writing since 2006.

“It’s been a long, thorough process, especially compared to our first release,” Gunderson said. “So, I think the music is very true.”

With influences like Hüsker Du, The Replacements, and Led Zeppelin, We Control the Horizontal is more reminiscent of alternative, progressive punk, complete with vocals, background vocals, and all that is needed to enrich the ears with full-on rock pleasure.

Jaime Hansen tracked, mixed, and mastered the album for The Jaggernauts, while band member Ramey arranged the order of the songs on the record out of convenience for the band as well as the recording, a process that The Jaggernauts had never tried before, Gunderson said, but worked well. 

The Jaggernauts plan to gather momentum with a CD release party for a tri-state tour that will take the band through Madison in October and Minneapolis shortly thereafter. After that, Hanson said that the band will move forward and play it by ear.

“The important thing is playing with my friends and playing good music,” he said. “Wherever [the band] goes it doesn’t matter. It’s about having fun.”

Since the band is like a family, whether or not they are signed to another record label in the future is unimportant. “We do this because we love to,” Hanson said. “It’s beautiful.”

The Jaggernauts’ CD release + Orestus + Desolatevoid + Sunspot is Saturday, Aug. 29 at The House of Rock at 9 pm. 21+

Listen to The Jaggernauts and order the album at www.MySpace.com/jaggernautswillcrushyou.