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Joecephus and The George Jonestown Massacre – Snowblind In The Rising Sun

By RingMaster Review on October 20, 2022 • ( 0 )

With every release US rockers JOECEPHUS AND THE GEORGE JONESTOWN MASSACRE have proved themselves one of a kind. It is a band which gets straight to the point and keenly takes the listener on a rousing ride, one which by the encounter has become more compelling and determined in its individuality. Even the host of tributes albums for charity which the band has uncaged, last year’s Heirs of the Dog: A Tribute to Nazareth an acclaimed third in the series, have been stamped with that JGJM distinctiveness which persistently gripped our and a great many other’s attention. Over this side of the pond they are probably still a relatively undiscovered incitement but maybe the release of new album, Snowblind In The Rising Sun, can change that.

It is a stomping slab of the band’s punk, metal, and country rock bred sound; a release coming with all the expected raw energy and aggressive dexterity we have come to expect but reveals another forward thrust in addictive hooks, rousing riffs and trespassing rhythms within webs of ravening enterprise; quite simply we are suggesting it is their finest uproar so far.

Led by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Joey Killingsworth, JGJM have shared stages with artists from Shooter Jennings, Johnny Winter and MC50 to Mike Watt, Steve Harris’s British Lion, H. R. of the legendary Bad Brains and numerous more over the years and are about to tour the US alongside Legendary Shack Shakers, their albums and songs inspiring eager and varied audiences to share the roar. Snowblind in the Rising Sun is sure to incite similar if not greater involvement live and in front of speakers such its devilish exploits.

The album erupts into life with Voices, choppy guitar bait an instant draw which is swiftly intensified with keenly coaxing riffs and biting rhythms. With a rapacious swing equally at large, the track jabs and rolls with every passing second, its participation rousing chorus a further zeal loaded burst of incitement which soon drew the holler within.

Straight away the expected and familiar JGJM sound is a loaded persuasion with a fresh breath and prize invention, a proposal embracing yet challenging those assumptions and lustily on show within the superb Summer of 93. With a nagging chug of riffs and again rhythms carrying an antagonistic edge to their manipulation, the track is an uncluttered rock ‘n’ roll protagonist, punk and southern rock essences drawn into its cunning antics where again twist and turn to reveal greater imagination within unpredictable shenanigans.

The album’s equally gripping title track follows, Snowblind in the Rising Sun almost baiting the listener initially before breaking into a belligerence bearing swagger. Like a barroom brawler holding himself back, the song continues to circle and prowl the senses, weaving spirals of melodic intoxication and grooved temptation around predatory moves.

Providing a lesson for persecution safety, The Border is a smile inducing country rocker, its rockabilly hues adding to the song’s lively and rousing shuffle before Nothing to Lose embraces a hard rock seeding for its stroll but by the turn draws on more classic rock attributes to infest ears and body. Becoming more heated by the minute, the song truly catches flame as its finale looms, Joey’s guitar a fiery blaze by its conclusion.

Hungrily catchy, 2 Bucks is another slice of rock ‘n’ roll springing new adventure from familiar flavours while Life of the Party spins a web of craft and invention as it aligns voracious noise and devilish calm within its addiction firing body. For us the best track on the album, it is a maze of styles and flavours honed into rapacious rock ‘n’ roll which had us roaring with lust though proving just as dextrous in that success was the following Company Man. Punk inclined and classic hard rock fuelled, the song like so many within Snowblind In The Rising Sun, had us thrusting our own involvement into the moment as it set another lofty peak within the release.

The final pair of Bleed the Day and Change the Channel push the album’s diversity further, the first with a psych rock scented breath and alt metal nurtured invention. Even so, the Memphis hailing band’s country rock instincts still bring a weighty side to the character of the track, its mercurial personality and array of flavours a gripping and memorable pleasure before the final song sets a fiery landscape of blues, classic and psychedelic rock for ears to explore and find rich reward and new adventure in.

It is an enthralling end to a thickly enjoyable release, JOECEPHUS AND THE GEORGE JONESTOWN MASSACRE at their most adventurous and creatively fertile yet; for us Snowblind In The Rising Sun is easily their greatest moment yet with all the lures to wake up far broader indeed worldwide attention.

Snowblind In The Rising Sun is released on vinyl, cd and digitally on October 21^st with pre-ordering available now @ https://joecephus.bandcamp.com/