Jesus Jones

UK band. Appeared in late 80's/early 90's with noisy debut album Liquidizer. Arrived with follow-up Doubt with the hit Right Here, Right Now. 3rd album Perverse went almost unnoticed as did the 1998 offering Already. Sound sample laden, electronic and guitar driven rock written by Mike Edwards. Often mentioned in the same breath as the similarly ill-fated EMF.

Jesus Jones is one of my All Time Favorite bands. I picked up Doubt and Perverse first, and Liquidizer later when I discovered it. Already was an awfully long time coming.

I'm rather pissed that they forced the group to break up, and have a deal going with Mike Edwards that he can form another group, so long as he doesn't sing for it.

I've found their lyrics generally fascinating and challenging, especially from Liquidizer with regards to religion. Songs off Perverse were simply intersting because of what they said about culture...and what I'm seeing in my head, between what I've read about Edward's on and off affair with the music industry, and the songs, generally says more than I can write here about what we're doing to ourselves as a society. I think that Welcome Back, Victoria is probably one of their more powerful and highly overlooked pieces.

I think that while it's true that many bands have sounds that are close to Jesus Jones, few of them have lyrics which think about any of the same things, or have the same depth or fun to them. But what is style in the face of fame and the demands of culture, neh?

Finally, London, the new album from Jesus Jones, has arrived in the US. The album was released October 23rd, 2001, by Mi5 Recordings, who have chosen "Nowhere Slow" as the single. That tune, as well as "In the face of all of this" can be heard at the Mi5 Recordings website (links below.)

The cover artwork was done by Mike Edwards, lead singer of Jesus Jones, and includes photos of the band taken at Iain's house in London and at the mixing studio in Detroit.

Quick and dirty review:
The album sounds much more like Liquidizer than Doubt or Perverse, but retains some of the depth and complexity of Already. Jesus Jones appears to have blended the elaborate synthesized melodies back into the ungentle guitar riffs and throbbing drum beats that characterized the band's first offering in 1989.

For example, the first song, "Message", consists entirely of Mike singing over some heavy guitar chords and drums, with only a little touch of synthy distortion.

The quality of the lyrics hasn't failed; Mike Edwards' songwriting skill speaks well on a variety of topics, and he handily includes explanatory notes for each song on the back flap of the liner notes.

Link to Mi5 Recordings Jesus Jones new album MP3s:
http://www.mi5recordings.com/artists/jesusjones/mp3/JJmp3.html