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Despite an 11pm curfew and Mom at every show to enforce it, indie dreamchild Jordy Topf has become a standard bearer for the Santa Cruz rock scene. And although Topf, along with the rest of the Vox Jaguars, is forced to deal with home-ec classes, high school cafeteria food and detention slips along with the strains of maintaining a rock band, the sound they've created is well beyond their years. Topf sings in a swanky, almost Jagger-esque croon, and, with crisp and quick guitars and loud and minimal drums, the music takes full advantage of his unique vocals. Crepe Place music booker and all-around badass Adam Bergeron sounded off about the Jaguars and their upcoming show, calling them "America's next indie sensation." "I love these kids. I mean, Jordy will call me and say, 'I'm trying to get some extra bands to play with us and I called Death Cab For Cutie but they haven't got back to me yet,'" Bergeron laughed. "Still, I think it's universally agreed that he's the next big indie rock kid."

Having mastered a swagger beyond their years, the local teenaged quartet Vox Jaguars has indie labels swooning. Who says rock is dead in Santa Cruz? Certainly not the girl who chases after the scrawny, grinning frontman for the Vox Jaguars, Jordy Topf, as he arrives for an interview. “Get away! Creeper,” he shouts, pleased with the attention. Swooning high school girls aren’t the only fans the Jaguars are contending with these days. The local quartet (made up of Topf, Trevor Hope, Mason Rosenberg, and Sam Copperman) was recently name checked by experimental L.A. rockers No Age in a Pitchfork feature as one of their “Favorite New Bands.”For this band of 17 to 19-year-old, mostly high school students (only drummer Trevor has graduated so far), the national acclaim is unexpected, but certainly warranted. The Vox Jaguars burst with exuberant, youthful energy at their live shows, handling roaring waves of garage-rock with the skill of bands that are ten years older. Their self-titled, self-released EP oozes with that magic combination of attitude and disinterest that catapulted groups like The Strokes to fame in the early part of the decade, and earlier recordings sound like an earnest, Third/Sisterlovers-era Alex Chilton fronting the Modern Lovers.

Three bands in, it was the Vox Jaguars who took one of two stages. I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but my detective work leads me to believe that the band took its name from the amplifier/guitar combo chosen by front-boy Jordan Topf. The old-school sound emanating from the amps fit the band's rambunctious garage rock perfectly, as power chord riffs collided with eccentric vocals. Topf sang and strutted around the stage with a presence that was well beyond his years, though his youthful fervor was unmistakable.

You would be hard pressed to find a more up-and-coming band than the fresh-faced youngsters in Santa Cruz's Vox Jaguars.Cutting their teeth beside SC mainstays like Man / Miracle and Sleepy Sun, The Jags have a polished sound and energy that is well beyond their years (the bands average age is 17.75). Like many indie rockers, The Vox Jags draw from the late 70's and early 80's New York scene juggernauts like Talking Heads and The Velvet Underground (we all know they were an SF band, but they weren't shit until they hit New York), while demonstrating the angst and immediacy that we have all come to love and expect from the likes of Television and Elvis Costello.

The Deli SF-Artist of the Month July 2008

>> Favorite New Band Randy: I just saw this band from Santa Cruz called Vox Jaguars. They're really good. The singing is really nasally but really urgent, and they're really young kids, like 16 and 17. They did this tour and their mom bought them a hotel room"