ASSAI RECORDS 24th October 2025
Jim Jones is an always-reliable in-yer-face, sweat-dripping, hollering rock and roll act. It doesn’t matter what name his band has (and he’s been through a few variations), this is pure rock and roll, drawing a line directly from Jerry Lee Lewis to the present day. The band is currently huge, with piano, two honking saxes, chewy guitar, bass and a backing singer. Think Little Richard produced by Phil Spector. Songs are loud, furious and lewd. Drinking, fornication and adultery are celebrated in all their rock and roll glory and the beating heart of life is personified in Jim’s sweaty face and flailing arms. Shows are never long, because they can’t be – no-one could stand that level of energy for that long. The filthy heart of blues and rock and roll is exposed and set on fire.
Recorded live and pieced together by Jim Jones from live shows over the last two years, this is a live album that captures the feel of the live show – but only if you turn it up to ten and pour whisky on your shoes while jumping round your kitchen. If you happen to be on the Number 13 bus, you’ll just have to accept getting thrown off. Songs like ‘Let You Go’ seem insanely hard and fast till they are topped by another song or you are caught off guard by a bit of balladeer soul hollering that precedes the next assault on the senses. I’m starting to sweat just listening to the set and I’m waiting for the ceiling to start percolating drips. Even Eddie Floyd’s soul classic, ‘Big Bird’ becomes a rocking whirl of pounding drums.
It’s been a long trip since Thee Hypnotics and Jones has honed his performance to a pumping slab of non-stop noise, with each song more furious than the last. Whether it is the percussive piano brilliance driving or the pushing saxes grinding filthily on ‘Shakedown’, the spirit of rock and roll is purer than anywhere else, yet devoid of any retro dressing up. Whether you’ve been in the live presence of this band or not, this will make you wish you were, and it’ll do till the next time.