One Eyed Jack – ‘What m’ I Getting High On?’
One Eyed Jack – Verolanuova, Italy.
Now, with an album title such as the above followed by three pink Chickens, you are naturally going to expect an album not fitting of the word “normal” or any other adjective depicting just another Rock band.
One Eyed Jack are abstract and with the recent release of their aforementioned strangely titled album you can’t help feeling intrigue. I myself felt this interest and proceeded to investigate. This is what I found…
The band describe themselves quite haphazardly as “Proto Psyche Grunge Noise” and in many ways that actually works and after listening to the record, I would even add the genres Stoner Rock and Punk to that list.
Nirvana are obviously a profound influence and with this record you can pin-point various points of the band’s career and the influence upon One Eyed Jack’s sound. ‘Primetime’ very much carries a cross between Bleach and In Utero as well as a hint of Nirvana copy-cats, Puddle Of Mudd.
I for one am very happy, why? Well ‘Little Junior Finally Grew A Beard’ and OEJ have gratified it in song. A looming Grunge rhythm carries over from the previous, amplified by pace, albeit only slightly, but enough to play into the hands of melodic and memorable chorus.
Track three sees the band fall back as the encroaching gloom envelops them for the semi-acoustic ‘Soon Back Home’.
The band’s Stoner Rock tendencies take hold in the former stages of the morbidly titled ‘Shitting Blood’ but not without immensely contrasting and satisfying melodic Punk refrains. Lyrically the song is haunting yet intriguing, which is a fitting description for the band as a whole.
The fuzzy Grunge-Punk of ‘Sgrunt’ is reminiscent of Nirvana’s ‘Negative Creep’ while for ‘The Edge Of The Soul’ a eclectic mix of subdued rhythms and vocals alongside Psychedelic toned guitars.
By the time you reach ‘Daily Abuse’ and ‘Drama Shit’ you feel at one with the album. The band seamlessly cross over between the various levels of distorted Grunge and Stoner Rock gloom without any over used theatrics or over zealous ploys at sounding completely unique, over the top or simply as if they are trying too hard.
‘Drama Shit’ is playful Punk-Rock at its most prevalent on the release. The track again impresses you with its relative simplicity and comfortability, standing as one of the best on the record.
‘Washyall’ in many ways seems like an attempt at a “filler” track before the grand finale. Sonically it’s as compositionally tight as the former entries but unfortunately sits too close to the slow thud of many of its contemporary down-tempo album-mates.
With that said, the final instalment takes the above formula but instead favours the melodic over the “fuzz”. In all manners the track is easy listening and suits the band. However, as nothing is ever far from the aforementioned “fuzz”, the band get a little hot under the collar intermittently on this one and cathartically burst from their confines for one last foray into the riff-void.
Find the band and their label Fil 1933 Group below:
- Social Media/Updates: Facebook.
- Music: Spotify, iTunes/Apple, Amazon, Deezer, SoundCloud.
- What ‘m Getting High On? Can be found via the label’s bandcamp – Here.
- Fil 1933 Group: Facebook, Youtube Channel, Official Website.
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