When The Black Crowes played a couple of years ago, Jim Jones turned up in one of his many guises and set about causing the sort of glorious racket he always does. Chris Robinson, never a man short on a line, called them “the greatest rock n roll band on the planet.” On the evidence of “Cat Fight,” you can see exactly that he meant it. Robinson not only produces this one, but he and his wife Camille also handle the artwork, which feels fitting enough because this record sounds like it has been made by people who understand that rock n roll is not meant to be tidied up and put in a nice box. It is supposed to rattle, sweat, lurch and grin.
And whatever Jim Jones does, whichever band name is on the front, he always seems to distil rock n roll down to its filthiest, most primal urges. There is no polish here for the sake of polish, no sense that anyone involved is interested in making this behave itself. Instead, “Cat Fight” stumbles gloriously through garage rock, soul, punk, rhythm and blues and the sort of late-night bad ideas that usually end with somebody dancing on a table they do not own.
“Make It Rain” opens the account with all the usual Jones hallmarks, all swagger and attitude, before “Exiled” arrives with the horn section working overtime. Rock and soul should not sound this damn greasy, but here it does, and it is magnificent for that. “Born To Ride” is one of those songs you can’t hear without imagining it being played live, where it would surely tip over from merely exciting into something truly unhinged. That is true of a lot of this record, actually. Even on album, it feels like it is only just being held together.
“I’m On Fire” sounds like a drunken British Stray Cats trying to play 60s soul after one too many bad decisions, which is another way of saying it is enormous fun. “Goin’ Higher” has a punky riff at its heart, and like so much here it somehow manages to sound like a cover of a song you have known all your life, even though it plainly is not. That trick keeps happening on “Cat Fight.” There is something so deep in the DNA of the music Jim Jones loves that these songs feel unearthed rather than written.
Then you get to “Bekolah,” which is, frankly, one of the weirdest ballads in the history of the world. Imagine The Kinks taking acid with Frank Zappa and deciding the only sensible thing to do was keep going. The title track throws us back into the hinterland, all 70s soul shapes and bewildering innuendo, Jones hollering about “licking it” and “sticking it” while the rest of us are left trying to work out exactly what on earth is happening. Not that it matters. Sense is often overrated in rock n roll.
Speaking of which. OK so I misread it as “gasman” and sent myself off down a Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson rabbit hole (apologies to anyone who never watched “Bottom” on TV) anyway “the gashman speaks with false piss” apparently. No, me neither.
“Drink Me” and “Chubby” extend the feel of the whole thing into something close to an extended jam, giving the All Stars room to stretch out and show just how well they can play. And they can really play. That much is beyond doubt. Yet it is also here that the album’s only real weakness starts to show. For all the atmosphere, all the groove and all the sheer cool of it, you do occasionally find yourself wishing for a few more actual songs and a little less vamping. “Luv U” brings things back into more familiar territory, sounding like one of those old classics you are convinced you must have heard before.
By the time “Let U Go” rolls around and Jones sings, “I love you, but I’m not afraid to let you go,” it feels clear enough that he is not talking about the music. He is never letting go of this stuff. He is never going to stop dragging rock n roll back to the gutter, shaking it by the collar and making it feel dangerous again. As ever, there is no one who does it quite like Jim Jones, and “Cat Fight” shows exactly why he is so revered.
But for all its brilliance, this is a sprawling 12-rounder when it might have landed even harder as a short, sharp workout. The knockout punches are absolutely there, no question, but sometimes it purrs a little too much when it should be going for the throat.
RATING 7/10
