Lovely to hear a band that embraces the classic forms without either being ‘retro’ or lost in the past.JT & The louds are a Chicagoan ensemble and their music harks back to the great Soul-Blues that came out of Chicago for years but it is fresh and lively with a real brio and a helluva lot of skill.
JT – Jeremy Lindsay – has a brilliant white-soul voice and he seems equally at ease with a sleazy Blues as he is with a sweetly sung croon and he has wrapped himself around with a band who can support him through all of his different styles.
‘Fever Dream’ starts with a sweetly sung and choppy vocal before developing into a full-on drum driven blast of soul. Mikey August hammers the drums with real get along snap and Chris Neal weighs in with a funky horn ‘parp’.
They follow up with ‘Funeral’ and now you are getting the poppy side of his nature as well as some quality vocals. ‘I Have Heard Words’ shows that he can also do sensitive with a softly sung number that could almost have been a Jeff Buckley love song.
‘How It Runs’ is down-home and funky feeling with some southern-fried edges to it and the title track is a massive and anthemic number with a heart-felt vocal and burning tones.
The final track on the album is ‘Nobody Wants to be Alone Nobody wants to die’ and they really do finish at the top – it is powerful and dark.
Various comparisons have been cast for JT & The Clouds – most oddly The Velvet Underground (?) – but they really do sound unlike anyone else. They have been building their career for a while and this album suggests they may have found their real voice – it works for me.
