Junkyard Choir – Trouble in Mind
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| Junkyard Choir - Trouble in Mind |
So, just to clear this up, Junkyard
Choir are a hard rockin’ duo from Brighton but they are not Royal Blood.
Capiche? Good. So, this is the band’s second album, ‘Trouble in Mind’, and I’ve
been enjoying it too much to share …. until now. Opening up with ‘When It All
Falls Down’, the band stride straight in to things with wailing harmonica and
screeching guitar before settling in to a bluesy stomp that the Rolling Stones
would be proud to put their name to. ‘Blue Moonshine Lady’ continues the blues
rock theme but with a Springsteen rasp about it that just adds to the sense of
authenticity. The spirit of Van Morrison arrives on ‘Road to Glory’ while ‘Chateau
Marmont’ has a Blues Brothers car chase vibe about it, such is the relentless
energy and wider cornering.
There are sixteen tracks on this
collection ranging in length, style and tempo and that’s a great starting point
but there’s passion and spirit in here too which gives this an extra zip. Up next,
it’s ‘She’s on Fire’ which slows the pace down and takes us back to the old
school of shimmering guitar driven ballads that the likes Roy Orbison used to
have such success with. ‘All the Rats Will Drown’ takes things back to a more
primal place as that harmonica screams back in to action before ‘Monkey See,
Monkey Do’ goes all Pear Jam slow grunge jam on your ass and you can’t help but
realise that this is the sound of two amigos making music together because it’s
as natural as breathing or chugging a beer.
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| Junkyard Choir |
‘The Days They Run Away’ approaches
like an unstoppable car over the horizon but never quite arrives only for the
Mariachi horns fade away in to the gravelly MOR rock of ‘Fuel Up’ that should
only be listened to on tarmac. ‘Sorrento’ lurches in to a swagger full of sex
and whisky, ‘Kinda Girl’ reminds me of LWM favourites Failure Machine and title
track ‘Trouble in Mind’ thunders through nearly five minutes of cymbal swathed
blues balladeering. There’s a fuzzed-up gloriousness to ‘Don’t Waste My Time’
that gives grunge-garage a go as a genre and ‘Thunder Came’ gets all lazy swampy
blues for the wee small hours when there’s only one couple left dancing and the
band have long since undone their top buttons.
This is more than an album, it’s a
road trip through a raw and emotional landscape taken by two friends after one
of them has gone through a particularly bad break-up. ‘Nasty Girl’ is the tune
playing in the car as the duo pull up towards Las Vegas with the lights on the
horizon and all that weariness suddenly seeps away, replaced by the promise of
what is just over the hill. The album closes out with ‘Up All Night’ which
builds slowly but steadily over it’s six minute life span until it emerges,
butterfly like, in to a soul stirring and haunting track that befits the closing
moments of this epic experience. I cannot urge you enough to download this
album and then take it for a spin – a long spin, not just to Lidl and back.
Enjoy it, revel in it, devour it.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/JunkyardChoirUK/
Live Dates:
2nd March – The Oval Tavern, Croydon
23rd March – The Scream Lounge, London
27th April – Bar 42, Worthing