Artists are still suffering from the pandemic as tours and albums were held back causing hardships all round. The impending success of The Jokers has suffered too as their fourth album, Rock And Roll Bones is only now seeing the light of day. It was worth the wait though, as the follow-up to the 2015 release Hurricane explodes with the signature sound of Wane Parry (vocals), Paul Hurst (guitar), Tom Crane (bass) and Paul Brough (drums); bringing us the value added fourteen (twelve really) track opus, shot through with the bluesy side of AC/DC and The Black Crowes and rock a la Sammy Hagar.
The band may be from North West England but the short intro is all voodoo before track one proper kicks in and ‘You’re Gone’ brings some solid, quality rock with hints of Europe via Glenn Hughes… nice! The title track has that AC/DC-styled influence but with more depth as the guitar phrasing behind it all fills the sound out. ‘Walk Through The Door’ slows the pace and ups the blues in a superbly put-together track; every instrument brings something special to match the excellent vocals. ‘Ghost Road’ brings a touch of funk to the clever blues-based rock. ‘Find My Way Home’, after the tasty bass and drum intro, unfolds like Free, even the guitar chord work has a neat touch of Koss. The closing track, ‘Carnival’ is sixty-three seconds of the Day of the Dead celebration.
OK, tracks one and fourteen are there for atmosphere only, but the other dozen are, without exception, high-quality bluesy, southern-y rock that begs one question: why aren’t these guys more widely known, appreciated and lauded?… This is high-quality rock ’n’ roll and deserves your attention.
Rock And Roll Bones is out on November 4th via Metalapolis (SPV).
