The Jim Jones Revue – The Savage Heart
Punk Rock Blues Records
★★★ (out of 5 stars)
The JJR are from London, but these latter-day Blues Explosion disciples are dripping in America’s greasiest traditions: rock & roll, blues and rockabilly, all with punk throttle and sneer. They’re a bit Little Richard, a little Jerry Lee Lewis and a whole lotta Jon Spencer. Keyboardist Henri Herbert is given a meatier role on this third full-length outing, and his manic pounding is evident throughout, but it only truly pays off on the departing doo-wop ballad “Midnight Oceans & the Savage Heart.” Sure, the JRR are knockoffs, but they’re righteous ones. And this record’s one hell of a stomping romp.