Photo credit: Nicole Antat (Lovingly stolen from the band’s website)
Being massive fans of vinyl at SonicAbuse we always appreciate it when a band makes that extra effort. Take Junkfoxx, for example, whose new EP comes on an all-black CD mocked up to look like a record. Not quite as cool as the real thing, mind, but darn close nonetheless. As for the band themselves, it is certainly obvious form the off that junkfoxx are rooted in a different era, their tightly-wrapped grooves influenced by the hard rock of Deep Purple, the blues of John Mayall and the soul of Aretha Franklin, all of which means that we like them… a lot.
Offering up only four tracks, sadly (we can but hope for a full-length album soon), ‘Listen up!’ is the perfect introduction to the band’s raw and funky sound. With the attitude of Jake and Elwood Blues and the voice of a dirty angel, Julia Clark leads the band on ‘cold-hearted bitch’, a powerfully funky number that benefits from a raw production, driving bass and an attitude that smokes out of the speakers like the cones are on fire. Dan ‘Bongo’ Brown is the band’s powerhouse drummer, nailing a steady beat whilst Julia limbers up on bass and Nathan Lusher pours sizzling guitar over the whole thing, never afraid to pull the song in a funky direction that more-or-less forces you to tap your feet even if sitting in the least appropriate of places (don’t listen to this in a library… the results are embarrassing). Nathan takes lead vocals for ‘falling under’, proving a perfect foil for Julia (who adds harmonies to the chorus), whilst the seemingly incongruous Mexican ululations of joy with which the band open the track actually fit perfectly and the song soon opens up into a modern blues rock stomp which is filled with attitude and enthusiasm in a way rarely heard these days. ‘No consolation’ is the EP’s ballad, drawing on the radio-friendly likes of Ash and Manic Street Preachers to deliver an alt-rock style slow-dance led by the powerful vocals of Julia. To conclude, however, the band head straight to the source and deliver a heavy rock track that bravely references ‘sunshine of your love’ and comes off without sounding weak in comparison (a difficult feat in and of itself).
If raw, untamed blues and rock is your thing, then you could do much worse than check out Junkfoxx, a multi-talented band who reference everything from 90s indie to Eric Clapton and get away with it. The real test, of course, will be the band’s ability to maintain their magpie-like tendencies across a full-length album, but on the strength of this mighty fine EP it is unlikely they’re worried – Junkfoxx have the skill and the song-writing abilities to come up with something more than worthwhile and in the meantime we have ‘Listen up!’ to enjoy. Thoroughly recommended.
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