I read Voodoo Rhythm label head booster Beat-Man's customary over-the-top accompanying blurb for this Swiss band. Other people, famous folk whose music you love, rate The Jackets very high. Who? Well ... Alice Cooper.
Nah, can't be that good.
It's better.
Every song is crafted, clever, and a blazing, shooting, call-out-the-army riot in a small town over a misplaced pair of slippers.
The band are: Jack Torera aka Jackie Brutsche (guitar, vocals), Chris Rosales (drums) and Samuel "Schmidi" Schmidiger (bass).
You have to imagine a slightly different 1960s. Where the studios were better. Where short, sharp, powerful bolts of lightning strike over thundering drums and a glorious fuzz drone (no song here is over 3 minutes). Where more women were into the macho world of r'n'r. 'Queen of the Pill' is ten supercharged luscious slabs of dance-frantic, limbo-struttin', death-defying rawk that'll come close to blowing your head off.
Take just one example: "Move On", a classic rock itch to be away from whoever's holding you back. Except it's from the woman's perspective, ditching some overly clingy male. Why is this? Jack Torera is a female. I think. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I am not your mom/ You are not my dad/ You are not my kid/ I am not your cat/ I just got to move on/ Now you're on your own
Quite apart from completely nailing a number of identity problems men have with the love of their life, and flipping the 'don't hang around me no more' type of r'n'b gag upside down and inside out, the delivery of "Move On" (and the other 9 songs) is absolutely fire-furnace on the march. Succinct, humungous and superb.
Some of you will recognise some of the places they've been revisiting. 'Loser's Lullaby', for example, reminds me a bit of The Damned's 'Born to Kill'. But, frankly, fuck 'em if they can't take a joke. All that matters is the glorious pop drone fuzz tank-rattling racket right the fuck now.
'Queen of the Pill' is The Jackets' fourth LP, which means I now have to grab their others, and so do you. Here's a couple of clips:
...and fuck, here's a live gig:
Here's their websiteebsite and a swag of imminent gigs in Europe are as per below. You'll know if I win the lottery.
30.05. Gonzo - Zurich
31.05 Gaswurk - Winterthur|
1.06. Kaschemme - Basel
06.06 Rossli Reitschule - Bern
07.06 Tap Tab - Shaffhausen
08.06. Treppenhaus - Rohrschach
12.06. Funhouse - Madrid
13.06. Nave 9 - Bilbao
14.06. Stereo - Logroño
15.06. Bestialc Festival - Alcora
28.06. Barbarie Festival - Biel
29.06. Le Grütli - Geneve
05.07. Festival du Gibloux - Fribourg
18.09. Museum - Köln
19.09. DB’s - Utrecht
20.09. Patronaat - Haarlem
19.10. Mistral Palace - Valence
31.10. L'autre Canal - Nancy
01.11. Supersonic - Paris
Of course, if you want to see them in Australia, you'll have to bring The Jackets over yourself.
