Jesus Jones C/D?

Oh, and EMF's Doubt-contemporaneous _Schubert Dip_, which earned abundant ire thanks to "Unbelievable" getting overplayed for years, is fabulous too. Ned's Atomic Dustbin, sadly, hasn't aged as well...

But why am I bothering writing anything in a C/D thread? Why does anybody bother?

well, fair enough, yes, but if you did read the music press, and you didn't like the band, is sort of added insult to injury a bit. (whispers - just like prml scrm)

But why am I bothering writing anything in a C/D thread? Why does anybody bother?

it sure beats the hell out of an "only pick ten" thread.

i think the rest of the country gets the same old bagpipe and fiddle routine.

Which is different from most other young and coming UK indie acts throughout history in which way? :-)

But Jesus Jones wrote better, more melodic, songs than U2.

Fighting words.

(As it stands, PWEI remain far better than both.)

That said, up until and including "Doubt", I lurved them. Some of them B-sides are still groovy. A lot of it has dated unfortunately, but I still dig the early more PWEI-sounding stuff like "Info Freako" and "Never Enough". And they are still influencing lots of 'cross-over' 'electronic' 'rock' bands today (Prodigy anyone?), though no one will admit the nod, since the name 'Jesus Jones' has become so incredibly taboo.

Won't defend Mike Edwards, the person, however.

But Ride's "Today Forever" EP pissed on it (and, let's face it, on most recorded music since then) from *such* a great height that I'd happily die never hearing JJ again.

That said I remember liking JJ a lot better than EMF or PWEI at the time (I even went out and bought Perverse, and liked it) (I was also fourteen)

I just wanted to point out that "nonetheless" makes no sense in this paragraph. Carry on discussion, this thread just proves to me that we've officially run out of bands.

Maybe I should've posted that on the "Brag About Bands No One Else Cares About" thread...

You all (except Ally) gush over Lou Reed and John Lydon but balk at Jesus Jones guy?

er...have you lost yr mind?!

''You all (except Ally) gush over Lou Reed and John Lydon but balk at Jesus Jones guy?''

Lydon made his last great record in 79/80, Lou reed in '75 (MMM). so there's a reason.

???

Is the reason that they're old?

The reason: both made great records and were good vocalists (hehe).

It's exactly as good as I remember, i.e. great intro and then it turns into the usual sub-Charlatans plod.

But they still reform regularly to play their One Actual (American) Hit at corporate functions!

wasn't a hit i see either. could have sworn it was.

rancidrancidrancid33 (1 month ago)
why is there no energy like this in todays indie scene?. Watching this makes you realise how dull its become.

"Real Real Real" and "Welcome Back Victoria" are pretty good too actually.

A contextual remembrance, courtesy of yours truly.

listening to Liquidizer for the first time in... 20 years? it's kind of scary how music from a particular time in your life can imprint on you

saw them live a few weeks back.
bloody good fun.

iTunes added Perverse not long ago.

I just listened to Carter USM's 30 Something with a huge grin on my face and even I'm not going anywhere near Perverse

i'm the other way around.

cant listen to carter these days (then again, i couldn't at their peak), whereas jj i still enjoy ..

I got off the JJ train when Perverse first came out; I'm very wary of revisiting that album

i really like it.

(though could do with a bit of bass amongst the top end excess)

it fits in well with the whole pwei and neds discovering ministry/nin groove ...

you know there was a time before britpop took over that a select few bands in the uk took the usa styled guitar heavy industrial thing, (as opposed to the true industrial noise a la ptv, coil, cabs), and ran with it.

pwei, emf vs foetus, jesus jones, curve, neds, senser ...

no doubt i have missed some ..

reminders most welcome

(silverfish ? never heard their foetus produced material)

i am going to enjoy the xc-nn album tonight ...

it's bloody good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpRxStKJbFE

Sheep On Drugs! I liked a song or two of theirs. Ahem.

Cubanate, Mary Byker's shitty Hyperhead project? I'd forgotten about XC-NN too. What happened to that strain?

SHEEP ON DRUGS RULED

oh fuck of course .. SOD .. and hyperhead (thats buried deep in the archive ... time to start digging)

Iain from JJ has reminded me of eskimos and egypt ...

XC-NN went onto become tin star i think.

there was also a garbage lite band formed by bloke from danny wilson : transister

their album was very much along this kinda thing, with one of their tracks featuring in a slasher movie.

i still really enjoy Doubt when i put it on i.e. tonight.

D-U-D.

oh well, time for EMF then.

Revive!!!

Have the years been kind?

Are we ever going to get to the bottom of this 'grebo' business, and what a grebo actually was?

Is this one of those bands where the US perspective is so inpenetrably different from the UK perspective that we might as well be discussing two different bands?

Is it weird that of all the comparisons on this thread, my boys The Shamen are never once mentioned - I just put Liquidiser on for the first time in nearly 30 years, and the first song is called "Move Mountains" and I actually yelped 'oh no you didn't' out loud?

Colin Angus: "In America, last year, Mike Edwards kept saying what a great influence we had on him, and it's true - he used to come to a lot of our gigs around this time. What he did was take some of our ideas about fusing rock and hip hop, and put polished melodies and lyrics on top. But I don't see Jesus Jones as plagiarists at all. Good luck to them."

Aw, bless. What a lovely man.

Funny, we were just on a road trip and my wife put on "Doubt," I think to see my reaction. I'd never heard it, but it was OK! I asked her if she used to listen to Ned's Atomic Dustbin and she said no, which I found intriguing, since I knew a few people that listened to Ned's Atomic Dustbin but no one that listened to Jesus Jones.

Fun fact: Jesus Jones's bassist plays with Jon Langford in the Waco Brothers here. I think a lot people think he's joking whenever he introduces him on stage as "superstar bassist of Jesus Jones" or whatever.

it's funny, I don't really equate Jesus Jones as being much like Shamen - one was a rock band with electronic influences, the other a dance act that broke into the alternative mainstream for a while

Have the years been kind?

No. I just put on “Real Real Real” because it’s on my phone for some reason, and no.

Hey, DL, have you heard the albums Drop and In Gorbachev We Trust? Because The Shamen really didn't start as 'a dance act that broke into the alternative' - they started as a really psychedelic indie band, with vague ties to the Scottish end of C86 - and slowly became more and more dance oriented.

After hearing things like You, Me and Everything and Jesus Loves Amerika for the first time in 30 years - and then comparing those to e.g. Who, Where, Why - I was shocked, like, even down to "their bassist even has dreadlocks with shaved sides?!?!?" Seriously, listen to You, Me and Everything - Mike Edwards was even doing the exact same vocal fry (that Colin Angus later dropped, once he started being less influenced by the vocals on indie records, and more influenced by the vocals on house records).

No. I just put on “Real Real Real” because it’s on my phone for some reason, and no.

Aw, I didn't actually get that far. I listened to International Bright Young thing and Info Freako and Who, Where, Why and I was like "aw, these guys were better than I remembered?" but I suspect if I listened to Right Here Right Now I'd probably throw my phone across the room haha.

The first two records are solid, imho, the only thing I find a little lacking is Mike's adherence to really similar vocal melodies and ticks.

OK, truth be told, I made it 55 seconds in before I wanted to punch the Bez-dancing dude and I had to stop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBklIul0Rog

Mike Edwards, give Colin back his hoodie from the You, Me and Everything video, now, it's cold up in Aberdeen, you know.

I just watched Right Here Right Now and my god, who goes to make their huge, career-changing video wearing their hair in a terrycloth scrunchie. Who.

Real Real Real sounds like a cross between PWEI and the Inspiral Carpets? Perfect for the freshers week circuit, it's like music for dancefloors made sticky with vomit and spilled snakebite. They even dress like the lads from the Snowboard Soc so you know they're the cool kids

Ha, funny revive -- I don't quite know how it happened but a few years back Iain Baker, the band's keyboardist, sent me a Facebook request; I accepted, and he's been a real pleasure to get to know via his many comments and posts. Talks about being a total post-punk fiend in the early 80s, which given all the dance experimentation makes sense. Has no airs, shares stories in an 'as it comes up' fashion and definitely looks back on what's been a steady enough career since with easygoing familiarity and friendliness.

also, it's iain that's the 'bez dancing dude' in the video.
and as ned says, he is genuinely a good'un.

Aw, I’m sorry for slagging off his dancing if he is a genuinely nice bloke!

I’m sure he’s lovely. But he is not a good dancer. Sorry

Hey, DL, have you heard the albums Drop and In Gorbachev We Trust? Because The Shamen really didn't start as 'a dance act that broke into the alternative' - they started as a really psychedelic indie band, with vague ties to the Scottish end of C86 - and slowly became more and more dance oriented.

ah, no I had no idea about this. I guess this was also true for a lot of acts who were known for dance or alt-dance in the nineties: Primal Scream, Underworld etc

Branwell, just checked out Jesus Loves Amerika and you're so right about the vocal style. Funny how both bands had a slightly metal/industrial aspect to them which might have gone on to influence bands like Senser, Apollo 440 and Pitchshifter

I just put Liquidiser on for the first time in nearly 30 years, and the first song is called "Move Mountains" and I actually yelped 'oh no you didn't' out loud?

But didn't Liquidizer come out before Pro>gen?

Ha, Liquidiser came out in Oct 1989 and the first version of Pro>Gen came out in March 1990, so... I suppose I have to allow it. ::narrows eyes::

The vocal style and delivery is really noticeable, I'm glad you agree, DL. We were talking about the Meat Beat Manifesto influence (wherein comes the Industrial edge, I think) on the Shamen thread earlier.

I went and listened to Info Freako and it's not better than I remember, it's quite horrible but also have to say for 1989 not un-prescient in its depiction of 'information' addiction.

"info freako" was always a painful tinnitus inducing 3 mins, but i took it as part of the songs individual appeal.
actually, the whole 'liquidizer' album has an insane level of top end on it.
i always suspected it was down to the bands lack of experience/knowledge/drugs, or, it was an artistic choice.
no idea if the remastered editions revises this aspect.

I remember at the time Mike Edwards was mentioning Big Black as an influence (I'm guessing the title Liquidiser was a hat-tip to Atomiser?) so maybe some of the squealing sonic assault was due to a few too many listens to Kerosene etc?

so many folks spelling the debut as 'Liquidiser'
was it different in the US, as my UK copy is definitely 'Liquidizer' ?
and yeah, good call, as Big Black were another top end heavy noise band ... never made the connection before, but makes sense actually.

This is apparently the keyboard player Iain Baker who Ned mentions above wearing a Big Black t-shirt:

https://www.picuki.com/media/771861530817785988

Spellcheck innit. Not sure my phone will even allow me to type Liquidiser - nope, it changed it for me!

haha ..fair point.

i'm a big jj fan generally - and it isn't just a west wilts thing (my godfather went to school with them et al) - but i just want to comment their fourth album already is generally pretty great. not that that's news to me. and none of this is likely to convince sceptics (after all mike still has the voice of mike). but the singles (plus honorary single 'they're out there' - surprised they went for 'chemical #1' over it actually - and a few other songs) project a certain well-produced brightness - power pop meets techno squelch - that feels right at home for '97, and also not much like their earlier work. more delineated (i.e. less of the faint reverb of old) in sound. and i'm sure if they had been a new band and the money/media was there to support them these songs could have been big, sorta somewhere between republica, the sfa songs with funny noises and britpop.

actually, the feeling's comeback hit from 2008, 'i thought it was over', sounds just like this stuff. i'm aware that wouldn't be a glowing endorsement to everyone, but i guess it shows the style they were locking into had legs.

the 'techno squelch' on the album in question also presents a kinda pyrrhic victory for them? there was some of that back on perverse ('zeroes and ones', 'spiral') and that was years before, but by 1997 a specific oversaturated 303 sound was everywhere. the track which really goes full on rumbling menacing acid techno is 'motion', a bit like 'spiral' on the album before it but with an actual beat (and a bloody fast one at that, almost digital hardcore speed). actually parts of the song really remind me of bloc party's 'flux'.

'february' is the obligatory gothic mood piece and maybe it could do without mike on it but i like the mid-90s thriller soundtrack sounds.