The Altered Hours – Sweet Jelly Roll

Ireland has never been a country revered for it's production of psychedelic rock bands, but over the last number of years a few have emerged from Dublin, most notably The Urges and Cheap Freaks with their garage-infused distillation.  Cork has also produced a psychedelic concoction of its own in the form of The Altered Hours, a band set to release their latest EP Sweet Jelly Roll.  The record displays a diversity of sound and a band honing their own brand of South-West psychedelia.  Each song has its own distinct character, yet they all sit well together and further enhance the bands psych aesthetic.

On Sweet Jelly Roll they channel the spirit of 90’s twee noise/pop icons Black Tambourine, only with less feedback.  High-pitched guitar lines that build are juxtaposed with the delicate hushed vocals of Elaine Howley, whilst the rhythm section compliments this in steadfast fashion.  This is in stark contrast to a song like Flowers Die from 2011’s Downstream and showcases the versatility of the band. 

Track 2, Smoke Your Eyes, recalls the folk-blues occasionally heard on The Raconteur’s albums; this may be down to beefier sounding guitars and drums accompanied by smooth overlapping male/female vocals that contrast nicely.  While, Everyone Is Inside makes use of nice interplay between guitars over a propulsive, stuttering drumbeat.  It is the darkest song on the record, in which the singer’s dark vocal tones could easily be mistaken for Ian Curtis.  His performance makes him sound like a man on the edge, swinging from tuneful despair to exasperated bark as he demands: “Show me how/ Tell me why/ Everyone is inside?!”

Psych-pop is probably the most appropriate tagline for Altered Hours, on occasion bursts of psychedelic noise is allowed to rear its warped head, but song craft is never neglected in the process.  Shared vocal responsibilities adds depth to the record and would owe itself well to a full-length, which may well be in the pipeline.

-          Sweet Jelly Roll is released April 29 by A Recordings on 10” vinyl and digital format.

Another song worth searching out from the band on youtube - Instrumental B-side Garden of Sonic Children from Downstream – it’s a good example of the trippier psychedelic side of the band, and well worth a listen.

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By Garrett Hargan

Snapper – Snapper EP

Comprised of stalwarts of the Kiwi music scene, Snapper were a band that slipped under the radar when they first emerged in the late 1980’s, never quite reaching the heights their music otherwise promised.  This may have been in part due to a contemptuous attitude held by some quarters of the English press towards New Zealand bands and their Australian neighbours at the time.  It was also undoubtedly down to self-implosion on the part of the band if reports are to be believed. 

Record Store Day 2013 has just seen Captured Tracks re-release their classic 1989 self-titled EP, with their most eager fans managing to grab a copy of the limited edition release.  Snapper well and truly wore their influences on their sleeve, with The Jesus and Mary Chain feedback and the synth-driven, hypnotic repetition, of electro punk godfathers Suicide stamped all over their sound, to the extent that it is at times a clear amalgamation of the two.  However, there can be no disputing the band’s ability to craft a catchy pop hook, and this is evident on tracks like Buddy and Hang On.

Maybe this re-release will capture the imagination of a new generation of fans, just as the work of their predecessors mentioned above has managed to withstand the test of time.  As well as obvious noise rock influences the EP also has a krautrock feel that has experienced a resurgence in popularity over the last few years with English bands, The Horrors and Toy playing their part in reinvigorating the genre made famous by krautrock royalty Can and Neu!  Snapper are a band that has a part to play in the music history continuum, and this EP at the very least has a place in the record collection of devout noise rock/pop fans.

 

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By Garrett Hargan

Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin

John Dwyer appears to be a restless bundle of creative energy, moving from one music project to the next over the years, he’s also an artist and creates a lot of posters for his band’s shows. Previous bands like Yikes, Coachwhips and The Hospitals adopted a full-on noise-rock approach.  Then there was the plain peculiar homoerotic-sounding speed-freaks Zeigenbock Kopf - a band with whom he made an eventful trip to London that almost led to loss of limb.  Mid-set the band decided to raid the bar and smash every bottle they could get their hands on, Dwyer ended up with an infected wound after a piece of glass got lodged in his leg.  Frontman thoroughly introduced, the current band, now on their seventh studio album (bar second guitarist and second drummer Finn Larson from The Intelligence)is further comprised of Brigid Dawson, Pete Dammit! and Mike Shoun.

On this their seventh studio album as an established four-piece,  the album to a certain extent reverts back to Dwyer's heavier sounding era of Coachwhips and The Hospitals.  The twee psychedelic-folk of 2011’s Castlemania is replaced by excess, resulting in a noisy, more abrupt affair.  And it’s just as well we’re well-acquainted with Thee Oh Sees at this stage, as there is no time for civilised introductions when Floating Coffin gets under way.  I Come from the Mountain comes at you like a freight train so you best be on board or get the f**k out of the way.  High pitched riffs at the fore as Dwyer yelps "Boys are trouble all the time/Sitting in their pocket just a dime," and guitars and drums thrash it out.  Keyboards and a backing of ‘WOOO-OOOO,’ softening what is an otherwise jagged thrashing delight of a song.

It sets the tone for the album, Toe-Cutter and album title-track Floating Coffin are another pair of rabble-rousers, guitar riffs as chunky as your fat uncle, with Dwyer’s trademark echoed vocal underneath.  When the riffs give way the harmonies take over, something this band has always combined well.  No Spell starts off with the type of heavy overwhelming foggy onslaught his previous band Coachwhips employed, except on this occasion he is accompanied by Brigid Dawson’s breathy vocal, lightening the mood without detracting from the unadulterated exhilaration.  It showcases the light and heavy side of the band, where nice harmonies meet insolent thrashing.

Elsewhere, Night-Crawler glides along menacingly; all stuttering drum beats and whirling guitars.  On Strawberries 1 + 2, they let rip with a few guitar solos, we aren’t talking self-indulgent Guns ‘n’ Roses style cock-rock riffs, just high-pitched, rip-roaring blood curdling bursts of noise and feedback. On most of these songs, Dwyer’s falsetto singing is incomprehensible but it doesn’t matter when it is this intoxicating. 

Album closer and first single Minotaur allows the listener pause for thought; it is the slowest song on the album and a great come down following the potent highs of preceding tracks.  Dawson is at her best, cooing luscious 'ahhs' in the background, whilst Dwyer sings of lost dreams and ditching work in favour of the beach.  As a band they have the ability to capture both hostility and innocence at once which is a feat in itself.  They are an outfit that thrive on paradox, with songs about violence offset by playful vocals, squalling guitars softened by sweet melodies.  Here they have produced an album that is decidedly different from the last, but still very much the embodiment of Thee Oh Sees, and as such appear to be a band at the peak of their powers right now.
 
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By Garrett Hargan

White Fence – Cyclops Reap

San Francisco has been a breeding ground for experimental musicians over the years, you need only take a look at its history to discover a host of influential bands such as Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Faith No More, The Brian Jonestone Massacre, and more recently Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall.  This may stem from the fact that some of the artistic energy and bohemian attitude that enveloped the city during the 1960’s, when it was a haven for countercultural movements is ever-present.

 

Hallucinogens must have hung around once the ‘Summer of Love’ beatniks vacated, as most of the music coming out of there nowadays seems to hold on to an inherent psychedelic edge.  White Fence - a pseudonym used by prolific song-writer Tim Presley, is one such example of the aforementioned style.  And they seem to be joining forces to spread their brand of psych-noise to the masses, with John Dwyer ( of Thee Oh Sees and Coachwhips) releasing this album under Castleface Records, a label he part-owns.

 

 

Building his career around a lo-fi psychedelic pop/rock aesthetic, it seems somewhat peculiar to say Cyclops Reap has a quaint Englishness to it that recalls post Floyd-era Syd Barrett, the purest example of this being track 2, Beat.  However, its folk rock quality is given the Presley treatment to provide a trippy ramshackle sound similar to other White Fence albums.  It is an altogether toned-down affair in comparison to last year’s collaboration with fellow San Franciscan Ty Segall on Hair, an album that relied heavily on fast-paced, fuzzy, screeching guitars.
 

White Cat is a beguiling song, abounding in tempo changes, when you think it’s going in one direction it veers off on another, at one stage drifting along nicely before being abruptly interrupted as it slows to the point of almost going backwards, then taking off again.  Pink Gorilla is a standout track, more attune to a song like Sticky Fruitman Have Faith from 2011 album, Is Growing Faith.  Propelled forward by power chord hooks, and accompanied by a simple drumbeat, it provides the album with some much needed impetus and put the reins on Presley’s at times, excessive experimental tendencies.  Whilst, To the Boy I jumped in the Hemlock Alley sparkles, a sprinkling of high pitched electric guitar notes sitting atop softly strummed acoustic guitar.
 

Often the criticism of psychedelic musicians is that their albums can be quite one-paced, something that could never be directed at White Fence.  Cyclops Reap is a blend of tempo and rhythm throughout, constantly keeping the listener on their toes.  Presley seems to enjoy an unconventional approach to music-making; he is in no rush to adopt the extravagant sound-desk to cleanse his ways, instead preferring to leave the imperfections and idiosyncrasies in place.

 

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By Garrett Hargan

 

 

The Black Angels – Indigo Meadow

Tribal drumming, reverb, nonchalant vocals, fuzzy guitars, organ, abstract lyrics about guns and murder, Austin psych revivalists The Black Angels tick all the psych-rock boxes and present it in a neat package.  They sit closer to The Doors than the far-out experimental approach of Spacemen 3 who specialised in drug-induced stratified guitar riffs that twisted the listener’s mind, but they attempt to blend both influences.

Evil Things is one of the highlights, starting out like Young Men Dead from first album Passover for a moment before evolving, as soaring guitars dissolve into Alex Maas’ vocals.  His voice is a feature that helps set The Black Angels apart from similar psych-rock bands; it is at once laid-back yet unsettling as you’re never quite sure when one of his vocal tics will appear in the form of a bark or scream, at times he even manages to sound like he’s singing underwater, which strangely seems to work.

The pace is lowered for Holland, a song that allows for nice interplay between organ, drums and guitar, with Maas repeating, “I’d rather die than be with you tonight,” throughout the song.  On occasion Indigo Meadow has its lighter moments, Asian sounding guitar working well on Love Me Forever and a light airy feel that leans towards a surf rock sound on The Day, a song that floats along with the help of backing vocals and jangly guitars.

As first single from the album Don’t Play with Guns has received a lot of attention due to the current push for changes to American gun laws, it is unclear whether it was intended as social commentary or simply good old-fashioned sinister song writing as he sings; "Now Josephine, she was a loner/Her fortune of incredible lies /Her problems are now your problems/I hide a gun until the day she dies."

Either way it is one of the brighter moments on what is a slightly repetitive album. It lacks the punch of standout songs from previous releases such as, Bad Vibrations or Science Killer.  However, it should please their loyal psych-rock following and is another solid album that will provide more songs to beef up their live set.

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By Garrett Hargan

Black Rebel Motorcycycle Club - Specter at the Feast

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have always favoured darkness, from their leather-clad appearance to their confrontational musical style.  In the lead up to latest album release Specter at the Feast there was, as Robert Been put it himself, a genuine “shadow hanging over them,” following the death of his father, and mentor to the band Michael Been.  This tragedy in turn partially inspired the title of the album and had a profound effect on the writing process.

This experience can be felt on certain tracks, but death by no means overshadows the album because as fans of the band are well aware, BRMC have always produced songs of defiance and hope that deal with the light and shade of life.  They open with the contemplative, Fire Walker, an eerie slow-burner of a song.  Unusually for BRMC it sees keyboards used to good effect before bouncing bass lines and drums join in to provide a steady beat as the band set their stall out for what’s to come.

Let the Day Begin follows, a cover from Michael Been’s band The Call, and a song that acts as a tribute to Robert's father.  It is an altogether more hopeful song that celebrates life and speaks to the everyday working man, albeit given a BRMC sonic twist.  It is the type of song that will lend itself well to their energetic live sets. 

Returning and Lullaby are songs more akin to Sweet Feeling from previous album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo and lyrically appear to be the songs most indebted to the passing of Robert’s father.  The first verse of Returning encapsulates the mood, “A part of you is ending/A part of you holds on /What leaves your life suspended/Cradled by the sun.”

Sentimentality is substituted for hard-hitting rock ‘n’ roll as Peter Hayes takes the lead on Hate the Taste and Rival, songs that strive to reach the heights of Whatever Happened…but never quite make it, the latter packing the harder punch of the two.  Teenage Disease may be their most aggressive sounding song to date and sees both men embroiled in a vocal tug of war by the end as they try to outdo each other screaming, “I’d rather die than be living like you.”

Song styles tend to come in pairs on this album and after the intensity of the previous songs we move on to the most simplistic sounding tracks on the album.  Tambourine and ghostly backing vocals work well on Some Kind of Ghost, as does lone organ on Sometimes the Light, the sparseness of instrumentation giving both songs an warm intimate quality.   Mid-tempo tracks Funny Games and Sell It allow for some of the most intricate guitar work on the album with the frontmen unleashing their trademark reverb-drenched guitar onslaught backed by lynchpin Leah Shapiro, holding it all together on drums throughout - on this her second outing with the band.

On the whole it’s a well-balanced album, the difference between this and their previous output is that the slow-paced songs tend to be the highlights, while it has always been the up-tempo songs in the past.  They have produced an album in the same mould as Beat the Devil’s Tattoo in terms of diversity, but have also made enough of a departure to suggest that there is still room to grow and experiment in future.

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By Garrett Hargan

The Mighty Stef – Song for a Blind Girl

A sneak preview from the The Mighty Stef’s forthcoming album in the form of Song for a Blind Girl is enough to whet the appetite of expectant fans and should with any luck earn them a host of new followers.  It captures the spirit of the Dublin band who’s Blues-infused Rock ‘n’ Roll has been delighting the Irish public and beyond for years now.  After taking the plunge by going to America to record with well-renowned musician turned producer Alain Johannes at LA studio 11 AD it seems like it is now or never for the Irish band, led by troubadour Stefan Murphy.

Song for a Blind Girl begins with solo drums, before reverberating guitars slide in, followed by Stef’s trademark gravelly yet soulful vocal that always seems to come from the very depths of his soul as he belts it out.  It is more of a refined effort from the band, enlisting Johannes, not only a skilled musician but a man of great experience behind the controls may have been a masterstroke.  There is a balance and flow to the song which allows each member to play their part without overpowering the other.

It may be Stef’s best vocal performance to date and lyrically the song hits the mark, it is a darkly romantic song about what appears to be drunken unrequited love/lust.  Stef sings about a non-judgemental female who is unconcerned whether he is "bohemian or a rover,"  but only that he ”spend the night and lay with her.” Overall it is a great introduction to the new album and if the other songs can live with it then The Mighty Stef may be about to awaken the wider public to their obvious talent.

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By Garrett Hargan

Iceage – You’re Nothing

The second instalment from these young Danes doesn’t make for the easiest of listening.  It is a throwback to hardcore bands like Black Flag, and has some of the erratic musicianship that made The Birthday Party such a beguiling band.  It is messy, confrontational punk and on You’re Nothing they have produced more memorable album, than debut New Brigade.  For instance song like Interlude, with its sparse creepy instrumental sound provides respite from the leering intensity of singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt's vocals.  And Morals with its use of mid-tempo piano also helps to differentiate this album from the last. 

Elsewhere, Wounded Heart displays a nice tone to Ronnenfelt’s voice, similar to Faris Badwan from The Horrors since he has moved away from the gothic-punk sound of the band’s first album.  Fans of the band will be pleased to know they haven’t compromised their sound since moving to a bigger label in Matador, it is still exhilarating and unsettling punk rock, but what they have done is add more depth to their sound and in doing so made their music slightly more accessible. 

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By Garrett Hargan

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away

‘We know who you are,' is repeated over and over on album opener We No Who U R, an assertion we could never direct at the continually beguiling Nick Cave and his band of bad seeds, as once again they have delivered an album decidedly different from the last.

With co-founder Mick Harvey absent for the first time, this album has seen Warren Ellis come to the fore and his musicianship is firmly stamped on this record.  Where previous album Dig! Lazarus! Dig! was all screeching guitars and Nick Cave bluster, this album’s character blossoms through heartfelt  lyrics delivered with delicacy accompanied by spacious synthesiser and stringed compositions by Warren Ellis.

It is an album that relies on finer details, and achieves it's goals, in some ways it sees the band return to their roots with slow-burning melancholic songs. This sparseness is on display on Wide Lovely Eyes, a song that sees Cave unusually as the bystander, preoccupied by the sight of a loving couple on the beach below him.

And as always with Nick Cave there are songs that lean towards the darker, seedier side of life, such as the promiscuous Mermaids.  But these moments aren’t as prominent as they have been on past albums, it seems as though the waves of melancholy have washed over the furnace that usually burns within Cave.

The second half of the album starts with a menacing bass line on We Real Cool but it subsides with the lack of instrumentation and soft crooning vocals which allow the song to breathe and feel less intimidating.  Just one example of the toned down nature of this album compared to other Bad Seeds releases.

Higgs Boson Blues sees Cave at his most mischievous, moaning and groaning, and even sultry sounding vocals as he references Daniel Johnston, the devil ( with ‘100 black babies running from his genocidal jaw) and Hannah Montana in what sounds like a case of delirium as he drives through the desert heat in the dead of night with ‘flame trees on fire,’ around him.  Cooed backing vocals and lightly strummed guitar soften the mood once more, but it builds at the end with the backing chorus becoming louder along with crashing cymbals, before fading away as quick as they appeared.

Album title track and closer Push the Sky Away relies solely on synthesiser and vocal and is the most ethereal song on the album.  When he delivers the line, "And some people say it's just rock 'n' roll/Oh but it gets you right down to your soul," you know he means every word. It encapsulates the mood of the album in that sense and leaves you in no doubt as to Nick Cave’s frame of mind when it comes to creating music and chasing your dreams.  He urges the listener to look to the future, to know no boundaries and ‘keep on pushing the sky away.’

As a whole, this album is a masterclass in restraint.  Followers of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are aware that they have all the tools in their armory, they can pull out the guitars, the effects pedals and produce fireworks when they want to, but this album seems like a conscious decision on their part to reign it in.  After two raucous albums in Dig! Lazarus! Dig! and Grinderman 2, they have toned it done and changed direction once again, who knows what they've got in store next time round...

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By Garrett Hargan

Nice and Queasy: My Bloody Valentine – m.b.v.

After waiting 22 years for new material from the ultimate perfectionist in Kevin Shields, he has delivered an album that mirrors the unsettling beauty of Isn’t Anything and Loveless, whilst pushing the boundaries of sonic potential once more.  For a band that has always taken an individualistic approach to music making this may be unsurprising, but no less inspiring given the time frame.

My Bloody Valentine fans worried about a change in direction are put at ease within 30 seconds of opening track She Found Now, with layers of droning oscillating guitar, shot through with high pitched notes and airy vocals taking the listener to a place only MBV can deliver.

Sound levels seem to be ramped up another level on Only Tomorrow as clattering drums are drowned out by yet more droning multi-layered guitars building and falling away, leaving you unsure of where the song is going.  And Bilinda’s dreamlike vocals seeping in and out, and sounds building and fading before you can trace their origin.

If I Am lowers the tone and shimmies along as Butcher’s breathy vocals permeate the music.  The most conventional song on the album comes next in the form of New You and has thudding drums and guitars with Bilinda Butcher’s hushed vocals floating over them.  It is an example of the bands pop sensibilities and shows us they could take the band in any number of directions, if they were so inclined. 

And just when you think you’ve figured the album out, Shield’s derails the listener once more, taking us in a different direction.  On In Another Way guitars sound like bagpipes alongside a shuffling drumbeat, guitar lines reminiscent of an Underworld soundtrack appear midway through for a brief moment before going in a different direction entirely.

Nothing Is dumbfounds once more with its fast paced industrial-driven beat which sounds a bit like a revved up version of 1970s electronic proto punk band Suicide.  Album closer Wonder 2 starts with the sound of a large aircraft taking off, which stays airborne throughout the song above heavily distorted vocals and violin-like guitar playing.

In a music industry that has become somewhat predictable, it is good to have one of the purveyors of weirdness back behind the wheel to allow us to question the direction in which music is travelling.  On m b v, My Bloody Valentine have stayed true to their atypical route through the music industry by making their most warped guitar music to date.

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By Garrett Hargan

Hynotic Progression: Girls Names – The New Life

Progression is an oft-cited word when discussing the career of a band.  There is a fear of complacency, of standing still instead of pushing the boundaries.

A D.I.Y. aesthetic has somewhat died when it comes to the music industry.  In the past bands like The Minutemen had the ‘D.I.Y. or die’ attitude to their art.  Girls Names have adopted this mindset.  While most bands are happy to rest on their laurels, Girls Names are eager to create and release material as and when it is feasible, releasing EP's and singles when the opportunity arises.

Following on from their 2011 debut album, the writing and recording of The New Life has been a quick turnaround.  The album title speaks volumes about Girls Name’s philosophy.  First album Dead To Me is exactly that to the Belfast band as they move on to the next chapter in their life as a band in what has been a whirlwind 2 years.

Lead Singer and song-writer Cathal Cully believes this album to be substantially better than the first.  He sees it as one complete work of art, from idea to execution.  The sleeve, the lyrics and the music all meld together as one. The sparsity of their first album has been replaced by more depth this time round, with layers of guitar and synth added to the mix.

Instrumental opening Portrait allows synths to build before blending seamlessly into Pittura Infamante.  The album maintains continuity with Cathal’s ghostly lyrics and reverberating vocals being the one constant throughout.

Hypnotic Regression bounces along and is the most jovial sounding song, but with lyrics like.. “My last will and testament/But don’t nail me to your cross/Hypnotic Regression of lives that were lost,” you never escape the darkness that consumes this album. 

The second half of the album starts off with Second Skin, what sounds like a drum machine sets the tone; guitars are added which makes it sound like The Cure for an instant, only for the song to mutate into something else entirely, with changes in tempo brought about by reverberating guitar towards the end.

On album closer Projektion there are intermittent soaring guitars, and screeching feedback over a steady beat in what feels like a release of pressure at the end of the album.  It gives the listener pause for reflection, they are a band that keep you guessing, and at the end of this record you are left wondering what the future holds for this band.   I for one am excited about the prospect.


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By Garrett Hargan

The Jim Jones Revue – The Black Box, Jan 25, 2013

Jim Jones, lead singer of The Jim Jones Revue has said that their aim when performing is to ‘free everyone from the bullshit of their lives and elevate them as much as we can…even if it’s just for an hour or two,’ a simple sentiment, yet one to be admired.

Since The Jim Jones Revue arrived on the scene with their self-titled debut album back in 2008, they have been both lauded as rock ’n’ roll revivalists and labelled one-trick ponies who simply replicate their 1950’s influences. 

Then again, good rock ‘n’ roll was never meant to be over-analysed, it was, and still is about escapism and having a good time and TJJR deliver this by the bucket-load.

An expectant crowd in The Black Box tonight was instantly initiated to their feral approach.  Immaculately adorned, they took to the stage, wasting no time by launching into Where Da Money Go.  Spitting his lyrics with a level of bile deserving of the subject matter, Jones barks and growls, arms flailing and gesturing, while his band pull shapes and shred their instruments beside him.

The set for their rescheduled performance in The Black Box tonight is largely comprised of songs from latest album The Savage Heart, along with some old favourites.  The Savage Heart has seen them retain all of the brash and gusto from their first two albums, whilst allowing room for refinement. 

Amidst the supercharged bursts of rock ‘n’ roll are a couple of slow-burning mid-tempo songs that get a run-out tonight, allowing a busy Black Box audience just enough time to catch their breath before the next onslaught. 

Chain Gang is one such song and a departure from their otherwise raucous material.  It is a more straightforward stripped back blues rock song, albeit with underlying menace.  It calls to mind Australian blues rockers Beasts of Bourbon, particularly their cover of the infamous Rolling Stone song, ‘Schoolboy Blues/Cocksucker Blues.’

With the rest of the band backing him, Jones goes about business like the showman he is, cajoling audience members to join him, to varying degrees of success.  Undeterred, the band pummelled the crowd with their set and had most of the audience dancing or singing by the end.   

As seasoned rockers and a band known for their hard-working approach to touring they are well aware of the old adage, persistence pays.

The encore sees the band pulling out a few fan-favourites, with Rock ‘n’ Roll Psychosis and Elemental getting a run out, Jones vacating the stage at one point to enter the audience and shake things up a little more.

Few bands nowadays can stand toe-to-toe with TJJR as a live act, they have the attitude and rock ‘n’ roll bravado but more importantly they back it up with an ever-expanding arsenal of high-octane, feverish rock songs that rouse the spirit and dare you to join the ride.

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By Garrett Hargan

The Jim Jones Revue – The Savage Heart

 

The Jim Jones Revue embody the spirit of r ‘n’ r bands from a time gone by.  Frontman Jim Jones growls and delivers his lyrics with the bombast of a possessed preacher.  Live he prowls the stage, demanding your attention, similar to another well-dressed master of darkness with a swaggering stage presence - Nick Cave.

As with the first two TJJR albums, piano driven rhythms reminiscent of Jerry Lee Lewis are never far away.  On The Savage Heart, new keyboardist Henri Herbert has taken charge of the ivories and has managed to put his own stamp on the record.

Album opener It’s Gotta be About Me comes at you with all the subtlety of a sharp kick to the balls.  The keyboards lead the way, followed by heavy, in-your-face guitars, with Jones doing what he does best, delivering defiant vocals with a vicious propensity we have come to expect.

7 Times Around the Sun once again recalls the Bad Seeds, in the form of the call-and-response vocals we have come to associate with Cave’s seminal band. 

The pace of the album doesn’t slow with Where Da Money Go providing dynamic keyboards that dare the rest of the band to come along for the ride, a challenge they duly accept.  Lyrically he seems to be delivering a scornful message to the bankers that have ruined the economy and shafted the working man in the process, “you were always a dick, but now you crossed the line.”

Traditionally r ‘n’ r bands of this ilk can be questionable when it comes to slower songs, this isn’t the case with TJJR, who have delivered on both In and Out of Harms Way and Midnight Oceans and The Savage Heart.  Chain Gang is a slow-building blues number, which sees the band using their trademark stop-start guitars to good effect on a more downbeat song, that recalls the swamp rock style of Beasts of Bourbon, particularly their cover of The Rolling Stone's - Cocksucker Blues.

TJJR have delivered their best album to date by producing a stomping album which showcases the band at its most exhilarating, simply doing what they do better than any other band around at present.
They’ve taken rock ‘n’ roll from the 1950’s cranked it up a few notches, turning songs into irrepressible punk behemoths that dare you to come along for the ride.

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By Garrett Hargan