Precious Jules - Precious Jules

  by Andrew Carver

published: 9 / 12 / 2011

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Kim Salmon has been a mainstay of Australia’s underground rock scene, starting with the first wave of punk, influential New Wave noiseniks the Scientists, demento-rockers the Beasts of Bourbon and his own band Kim Salmon & the Surrealists. More recently he’s formed instrumental, multi-guitar combo Salmon and played in country rock duo the Darling Downs with Died Pretty frontman Ron Peno. His latest project, also a duo, is Precious Jules, which he has formed with Morning After Girls drummer Michael Stranges. It’s intended as something of a return to his punk rock days (though it does touch on later parts of his career), and features Salmon’s characteristic flat vocals over some fuzzed out guitar wreckage and Stranges’ bone-dry, straightahead drum clatter. There are a few tricks hidden in the songs, though, such as the ethereal chorus that pops up under the guitar buzz of ‘A Necessary Evil’ and the distant handclaps of ‘The Bald Faced Truth’. Folks hoping for a bit of the old Surrealists' magic will be happy with the slow burn slide guitar of ‘Shine Some Darkness on Me’ and the creeping dread of ‘Urban Swamp’. Sometimes the stripped down duo leaves the songs feeling a bit on the skeletal side, such as ‘Seein’ Spots’, though it works like a charm on the Surrealists-flavoured ‘You’re a Backlash’, with Salmon’s condemnatory incantations playing out over single-chord guitar grind and buried electronic noise. The meat-and-potatoes punk tune ‘Cheap ’N’ Nasty’ also makes an effective tribute to Salmon’s first punk band, the Cheap Nasties, while ‘Pearls Before Swine’ kicks off with the cry "I am A Beast of Bourbon" before strutting its way through some Bourbon-style bluster. ‘Too Uptite’, with its heavily decayed guitar signal, sounds most like Salmon’s more experimental work married to a funk-soul tune. ‘Listening to The Sand’ finishes the album by paring back the guitar distortion and taking a reflective turn. Although not as vital as his work with the Surrealists or the Beasts, ‘Precious Jules’ is a must-have for fans and a good introduction for those new to the cult of Kim.

Track Listing:-

1 The Precious Jules Theme
2 A Necessary Evil
3 The Bald Faced Truth
4 Shine Some Darkness On Me
5 The Urban Swamp
6 Seein' Spots
7 You're A Backlash
8 Cheap 'n' Nasty
9 Pearls Before Swine
10 Too Uptite
11 Listening To The Sand

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/Precious-Jules-197989386901864/
https://kimsalmon.bandcamp.com/album/precious-jules

Label Links:-

https://twitter.com/battleworldwide
https://www.facebook.com/battleworldwide
https://www.youtube.com/user/https%3A//www.youtube.com/battleworldwide
http://www.battleworldwideinc.com/
https://twitter.com/battleworldwide

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