Jack - End Of The Way Its Always Been
by Anthony Strutt
published: 12 / 4 / 2002
Label:
Les Disques Du Crepescule
Format: CD
intro
"Fresh and forward thinking" first album in four years from the romantic and always literary Jack, which finds the band experimenting with orchestral sounding grooves
Jack have been quiet in recent years. Their last album 'The Jazz Age' came out in 1998, and their last gig was in the summer of 1999 in which frontman Anthony Reynolds opened the set with a song that he wrote for Marianne Faithfull to cover. She eventually didn't. Anthony has now relocated back to his native Wales from London. The other main point to state is that Jack are no longer the band we know and love. Gone from the line-up are George, Paddy, Richard and Colin and in their place are the group's songwriters Anthony and Matthew Scott plus various session musicians. Jack let us preview some of the demos and work in progress on this record on 'La Belle et La Discotheque', a Spanish import, from a few years back, but only two of the songs from that have made it onto this new album. Jack have now moved on into the new century, but I'm not sure if the super hip 'Jack crowd', who are part of the in cool crowd will embrace this record. 'The End of the Way It's Always Been' is definitely fresh and forward thinking. The first two tracks, the title track and 'the Emperor of New London' are very literature based, but don't feature Anthony's vocal apart from as samples. Anthony doesn't actually start singing until the third track, 'With You I'm Nothing'. There is a lot of sampling, loops and drum programming on this record, but it is done with so much grace and style we can forgive them for their absence from our lives. Whereas before Jack were pretty much drums, vocals, violins, guitar, bass and were keyboard based, here they are experimenting with orchestral sounding grooves that have been recorded within a tight budget. It has a very rocking sound, but, despite being electronics based, doesn't go down any post rock avenues at all. The songs check in from between four and ten minutes and embrace Anthony's golden tales of love and loss. As a storyteller, he has matured very gracefully. Gone now are the tales of alcohol leaded London night and Scott Walkerisms and in their place he embraces the culture of art. Matthew's killer guitar licks also have an important effect on the sound. It's great to have them back and in such great form. Welcome back !
Track Listing:-
1 The End of the Way It's Always Been2 The Emperor of New London
3 With You I'm Nothing
4 Disco Cafe Society
5 That's the Way We Make It
6 Maybe My Love Doesn't Answer Anything in You Anymo
7 Sleepin' Makes Me Thirsty
8 Sometimes
9 No North Left
interviews |
Interview with Anthony Reynolds (2002) |
Jack frontman and lyricist Anthony Reynolds talks to John Clarkson about literature, record deals and the band's first album in almost four years, 'The End of the Way It's Always Been' |
reviews |
Pioneer Soundtracks (2007) |
Excellent double CD remastering with extra tracks of Jack's classic 1996 debut album, 'Pioneer Soundtracks' |
most viewed articles
current edition
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.Dennis Tufano - Copernicus Center, Chicago, 19/7/2024
Elliott Murphy - Interview
Wreckless Eric - Interview
Adrian Gurvitz - Interview
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #16: Living in the Minds of Strangers
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #17: Tom Robinson
Norman Rodger - Interview
Chris Spedding - Interview
Penumbra - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Groovy Uncle - Making ExcusesBill Wyman - Drive My Car
Hawkestrel - Chaos Rocks
Philip Parfitt - The Dark Light
Ross Couper Band - The Homeroad
Deep Purple - =1
Jules Winchester - The Journey
Popstar - Obscene
John Murry and Michael Timmins - A Little Bit of Grace and Decay
Splashgirl and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - More Human
related articles |
Cream: Profile (2015 |
Lisa Torem reflects on the short but prolific career of 60's supergroup Cream, who have just ahd most of their work released in a new vinyl box set |
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart