The Jim Jones Revue – Burning Your House Down
Review by Jack Foley
THE Jim Jones Revue are, by their own admission, a bunch of untamed hell-raisers. They hark back to a bad-boy rock ‘n’ roll with Jerry Lee Lewis inspired pianos and crunching guitar riffs.
They’re led by the gravel-throated Jim Jones and fearlessly spurred by Rupert Orton’s six-string maelstrom, Elliot Mortimer’s savaged ivories and the jackhammer rhythm section of drummer Nick Jones and bassist Gavin Jay, and they don’t hold back – something that’s both refreshing and, eventually, wearying.
Their songs preach hedonism, excess and living life to the full. Their lyrics take no prisoners. But while there’s a keen sense of fun and abandon in some of their songs, there are times – across 11 tracks – that they could do with taming it a bit.
That said, when they get it right, they’re pretty difficult to dislike. High Horse, the lead single, for instance has a “goodness, gracious, great balls of fire” kind of vibe about it, with frenzied piano arrangements colliding with Jones’ threatening vocals (“you’re gonna get a piece of my mind”) and the rapturous backing guitars and drums. You’ll be in a sweaty frenzy by the time you’ve attempted to keep up with its swing.
Foghorn, somewhat playfully opening with the aforementioned horn, then hits you with crashing cymbals and more crazy vocals… unfolding like an insane rant about not being paid properly.
If anything, The Jim Jones Revue are about setting the world to rights, and inspiring their listeners to embrace the same ethic. On Big Len, for instance, they threaten to take “a pound of flesh and a barrel of blood” for mis-deeds, while on the piano-charged Premeditated they “thank you very much for nothing”… before offering to turn you on. Again, there’s a Jerry Lee vibe.
Some of this does become a little repetitive, and Jim Jones and company are much better when slow building… as in the slightly more blues-rock soaked title track, Burning Your House Down (which contains a fine sense of anguish and revenge), or the unapologetic Shoot First… which really does live bad and forget about the questions.
Killin’ Spree is another super-charged highlight that is brimming with energy and violent intent, while Righteous Wrong an almighty rocker that finds Jones almost preaching the virtues of living on the wrong side of the tracks. His vocals sound like they might hurt at times… your throat certainly will if you try and emulate him.
The Jim Jones Revue are therefore a late night, bad-boy act that are guaranteed to blow away the cobwebs and lead your mind astray. And taken on that level, they’re a riot of energy and hedonistic excess that’s hard not to become slightly intoxicated by. Just beware the hangover…
Read our interview with The Jim Jones Revue
Download picks: High Horse, Burning Your House Down, Shoot First, Killin’ Spree, Righteous Wrong
Track listing:
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Related Links
- Website
- Buy it (Amazon)
- Burning Your House Down reviewed
- The Jim Jones Revue - IndieLondon interview