…On which, the mercury rises to the red
Sometimes, you just instinctively know.
You know that the artist you are listening to is readying themselves for something special somewhere a little down the road.
That was certainly the case with JW Jones’ 2014 award winning “Belmont Boulevard” album (13 weeks at the top of the roots radio charts in his native Canada, if you don’t mind) and within about 10 seconds of “The Price You Pay” – lead cut on the follow up, “High Temperature” you are sure that you were right.
There is a moment when the band plugs in, and the sound builds. Not rushing, because it doesn’t need to, because it knows it’s got a knockout in its top pocket (and given that JW is a man so dapper that he is better dressed than just about anyone on the circuit, including Bonamassa, you know it would be a very nice suit pocket too).
“…Pay” instead is just about as ebullient as the Stones on “Brown Sugar” and just about as acerbic as Dan Baird, the tale of a man desperately trying to make a woman like him by pandering to her expensive tastes (“feeding her champagne appetite, while you’re still nursing your last Miller Lite”) will bring a wry smile to the lips of many, no doubt. But Jones’ and his bandmates are merely getting started.
“How Many Hearts” has echoes of the mighty King King, the beauty here is in the simplicity. A brilliant guitarist, Jones’ skill is the understatement, he dazzles by not being flash. Instead these are leads to compliment, rather than dominate, the song.
The title track has a wonderful old-time feel. It is meant as a compliment to say it could have come out at any point in the evolution of the blues, while the keyboard work elevates this to somewhere very special indeed – by way of a back-alley bar, you understand.
An immensely diverse album, “Murder In My Heart For The Judge” has a dollop of soul, but it’s the astonishing “Who I Am” that forms the centre-point for the record. Here, Jones opens himself up personally in a way that he really never has before (he did get close on “Cocaine Boy” on the last record, but this takes it to the next level) “thank god for grandpa,” he intones over dark sounds, “if not for him, I’d be on the street with a bottle of gin.” The track is perhaps the highlight. It is though, amongst many.
Elsewhere he has fun too. “Away Too Long” has a kind of country swing, the superbly jaunty “Same Mistakes” (“she keeps making the same mistakes over and over – I know cos I am one of them”) is a real singalong and the ballad “Leave Me Out” has a Southside Johnny type whiff of the Jersey shore about it.
“Midnight Blues” is one of those 50’s early rock n roll classics re-written, while “Out In The Woods” with its more primal air, is another side to things, “Already Know” is heartbreakingly on the money.
Clearly a man steeped in the blues, JWJ nevertheless understands rock n roll sensibilities too. “Where Do You Think I Was?” is the work of a man who learnt a lot from his time opening for George Thorogood and the, urmmm, scorching solo here is that of a prodigious talent.
If you asked Jones, he might just say the closing “Wham!” is his favourite on “High Temperature”. An instrumental, hair is let down and the band just enjoys themselves. You can imagine the track ending many a sweaty gig in the near future.
This is an album, though, that is primed to make a breakthrough, and the stages he plays “Wham!” and the rest on are only going to get bigger. JW Jones is poised to join the elite.
Rating 9/10
