Impossibly young three piece back with album number two
There were loads of things to like about The Judge when they emerged with last year’s brilliant debut. There was the fact they were from Granite City, Illinois (which was as we remarked at the time so much cooler than Olton, Solihull, where MV lives) Then there was the music.
The term “retro rock” seems to be used to allow boring bands like Rival Sons an excuse to be boring, nonetheless The Judge will get lumped in with that. Thing is, with them its totally natural. Nothing seems forced or thought out here, rather it’s just two friends Dylan Jarrett and Evan Anderson (who formed the band) and singer Tyler Swope playing the music they love.
There is something timeless about these grooves. A warmth in the guitar playing. The record is nine songs (just like they always used to be) and we’ll bet right now that you could fit it on one side of a TDK90 tape (anyone under 30 ask your parents….)
Just like their heroes of the 1970’s The Judge have a work ethic too. As such, “Tell It To The Judge” emerges just a year or so after their debut. No worries about lack of quality here, though, indeed they seem to want to showcase their skills: “I feel as if I am ready to show what I have learned” sings Swope on “Islands” and what they have learned largely is to take everything up just a notch.
The aforementioned “Islands” for example is a fuzzy epic that seems that it might have been jammed in the studio. If it was, then it worked for Sabbath on “Paranoid” and if it wasn’t, then they manage it effortlessly.
There is a total lack of self-consciousness here. “Go On Home” starts with the line “I’ve warned you once about this bad woman’s love” as if it was the most natural line in the world. A theme from just about every blues record since even before Robert Johnson turned up at the crossroads with his soul, it gives a clue to the fact that “Tell It To The Judge” is a little bluesier than before.
It fair old bursts out of the traps with a mighty riff. “Empty Halls” gets itself all worked up from the off, while “From The Mountain” enjoys that fact so much it does it again, only this time on a groove that clearly knows a little about Black Sabbath.
“Strange Ways” is the spirit of Cream resurrected and while you’re considering what made three kids from near Chicago give their lives to music three decades from before they were born, along comes “Changing World” to boogie like it doesn’t have a care in the world. You can think, it seems to say, we’ll just rock.
“High Flyin’” makes sure there’s no let up’s as it is seven minutes of something very mighty, indeed there is something a little unsettling lurking just below its surface, and “Darkest Daze” is a Hendrix style freakout just for grins.
As the album ends with “Parade Of Sin” and doesn’t stray too far from the late 60s path the rest of it wants to walk, then the only thought is how far The Judge can go. They have the talent, they have the confidence, and what’s more, they’ve proved the debut album was no fluke.
Rating 8/10
