Six albums down and Jupiter in Velvet continues to nurture fresh ingredients in a sound which just seems to grow and evolve by the release. The US bred, UK residing singer songwriter has persistently refused to make it easy to pigeonhole his sound and Beautiful New Day, his seventh full-length, has mischievously not made it any easier. It is a rocking stomping slab of rock ‘n’ roll bred on all the rich essences of previous decades whilst casting more than a few new ones of its very own.
Jupiter in Velvet adds everything from pop and psych rock to indie and electro rock to a classic/hard rock hearted sound, one also just as adept at grabbing metal hues as it is at being a punk. The latest album certainly bears classic rock inclinations maybe more so than previous encounters but with a hunger for any flavour and style which allows the contagion within tracks to truly roar.
Beautiful New Day opens up with Heavy Like A Brick and immediately gripped ears with insurgent strikes of guitar; their guerrilla scythes nothing other than pure temptation. That nagging lure swiftly breaks into a prowling swagger loaded stroll as the richly individual tones of Jupiter add their own swinging persuasion. A track which just tempts more and more by the listen, it is a web of seventies and eighties rock and pop lined with strands of current day devilry; a proposition unapologetically infectious though that instinctive contagion reveals itself to be even more viral like numerous times more across the release.
Next up, Can’t Get It Right is one such instigator; the song a mix of Bowie-esque, INXS infected catchiness with a roar in its breath and angst in its heart. Its controlled swing simply manipulated hips whilst the guitar sparked the appetite with senses stabbing riffs and sonic flames. A feral edge to its tone and catchiness added further magnetism before Monsters took over and uncaged its predacious pop ‘n’ roll. As with most tracks there is a mix of familiarity and individual enterprise which grabs ears and attention and like each, the song springs hooks and melodic tempting with the hand of the Devil.
From one outstanding track to another as latest single Metanoia grips the imagination next. An irresistible blend of indie pop and melodic rock, the track bounces in with a bold and catchy gait but one which only builds greater manipulation of body and appetite when it unleashed a blazing romp of a chorus that is something akin to T-Rex meets The Wildhearts. Again hooks and grooves entangle to tempt and enslave as vocals add their own thick persuasion to another of the album’s finest moments.
The diversity within the Jupiter in Velvet sound is no better epitomised than within The Day I Fell From The Stars and its electro rock bred, celestially shimmering serenade. It is a thrilling Bowie scented courting though which boils as its simmers become tenacious flames of guitar and emotive intimation, a tempestuousness rising up and relaxing throughout without losing the song’s intensity and invention before fading away for the attitude lined punk ‘n’ roll of U Can’t Beat Me. There are flickers of bands such as The Motors, The Stones, and Iggy Pop to a rhythmically compelling, sonically tempting romp which as all tracks there is no option of ignoring.
Across the blues kissed, hard rock bopping Spare Me and the swarthy, humid melody woven balladry of With A Whole Lotta Heart, variety and magnetism only further blossoms. Neither song quite fired up the passions as their predecessors yet both enjoyably lingered in the memory after providing a body sparking, voice recruiting companion; a double tempting even more inescapable with the rapaciously strolling Take Control though it’s surf coloured psych rock ‘n’ roll is in turn eclipsed by teasing lures of Kiss The Flame. It is a coaxing though which almost becomes carnivorous as the track expels its untamed and hungrily magnetic clamour with eager imagination.
The album concludes with out and out rocker Fight 4 Your Life, a track which embodies the inspirations and kaleidoscope of flavours not forgetting craft and fun which makes up the Jupiter in Velvet sound.
Relentlessly rousing, Beautiful New Day is old school, new day rock ‘n’ roll which simply and eagerly feeds what we all want; something to boisterously rock out to.
Beautiful New Day is available now as a name your own price download @ https://jupiterinvelvet.bandcamp.com/album/beautiful-new-day
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Pete RingMaster 20/01/2019
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
From a scuzzy wind This is Bliss springs an indie meets garage punk incitement which had the body rocking with swift submission, Gravves tempering its punk causticity and elevating their cunning imagination for virulent hooks and invasive swings. Like a mix of the St Pierre Snake Invasion and The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, the track quickly had juices running as too did successor Sinister Surf. Emulating its title in flavour and noir lit breath, the track simply haunts as it prowls the senses, seducing and invading with sublime ease and touch even as its tantalising grooves erupt with caustic emotion and intensity.
Dig Tree comes next, the track a bewitching slice of punk pop initially, nostalgically recalling bands such as The Chefs and 4 Non Blondes. It floats across the senses but has a sonic causticity which just adds to the song’s bait again headed by Grimm’s engagingly manipulative presence. Whilst adding a new hue to the album broadening adventure, the song has feet and hips involved just as easily as rock ‘n’ roll instincts.
New single Beast of our Babylon brings a more sombre breeze to the adventure but with no less captivation and pleasure involved. It is a folk nurtured ballad with melancholic strings and acoustic elegance round the emotive tones of Montyro which just thickens and captivates second by second, maybe missing the mischief of other encounters within the album but rich in creative beauty to spark just as much pleasure.
Creating a sound which by design or chance embraces the essences of classic bands like Scars and Josef K as well as British outfits like The Libertines and Skellums, Edinburgh hailing Indigo Sixteen emerged in 2013. Leaning on inspirations ranging from Kasabian, The Smiths, and Joy Division to The Jam, Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, and Nirvana, Indigo Sixteen previously released the singles Decide (2014), And What? (2014/15), and Come and Go (2016). Now it is Bring on the Rain ready to stir greater attention the way of the quartet and as it plays in the ears it is hard to imagine it not rousing up a host of new fans.
Through the smouldering but lively heat and angst of Goldmine and the rousing rock ‘n’ roll of Armour the hold on ears and imagination is only tightened, the first a consumption of sound and enterprise which haunts long after its fiercely pleasing presence and the second a slice of alternative cored rock which prowls and almost menaces as electronic and melodic spicing explore its rapacious climate. Both tracks push the band’s creative boundaries and the already lofty heights of the album though they are still eclipsed by the vivacious and lively antics of Atlas. Magnetic from the off, addictive soon after, the track is a kaleidoscope of sound and adventure which becomes more contagious and seductive melody by melody, twist by twist.
Embracing inspirations from the likes of The Stones, The Who, and Oasis, the Bolton hailing quartet has earned a strong reputation for writing tracks which roar with heart as they infest body and spirit; traits shaping previous plaudit grabbing singles such as One Last Time and Nothing Changes. Got My Star is more of the same goodness but undoubtedly a new flavour in the band’s maturing sound and creative imagination too.