Do today’s kids even know who JR Ewing was? I think I actually stopped watching Dallas the summer before the season they revealed who shot JR; I don’t know when that was, but it was a long fucking time ago. More on target, though, do today’s kids know who the Jesus Lizard was? Because this JR Ewing, with the bass in the driver’s seat a good deal of the time and the guitar running all around it, resembles that Touch & Go band, with a stern ‘00s update after the fashion of the Locust and that breed. I gotta say, the initial few listens didn’t grab my lapels too hard but subsequent plays in the course of trying to pin down something tangible have burrowed into my appreciation center, even the moody, minor-key parts, which is rare. One thing I still don’t get, though: they seem to be from Norway (recorded there, plus names like Mokkelbost and Snekkestad) and the guy writes better fucking lyrics in English than ninety-five percent of the writers in this country (not too many rhymes, however, if that’s what you look for. And no cop songs).
–doug (Gold Standard Laboratories)