Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
After a string of fantastic EP releases, England’s Jukebox Monkey issued their debut full-length album, the eight-song ‘Grey Skies Red Planet‘, today, Friday, April 28th. The ruffians at the heart of the band, Chris D. (vocals and guitar), Pete (drums), Chris H. (guitar), and Niki J. (bass) are sure to astound with this outing.
Melding a potent, electrifying blend of southern-fried Stoner Rock with equally enlivened Grunge and a bit of Sludge, Jukebox Monkey refuses to be ignored. I, myself, will go as far as to say that their sound is akin to Orange Goblin-meets-Sixty Watt Shaman. If that comparison does not invoke your curiosity then by God, nothing will.
Uptempo paces permeate most of the songs here, relaying a visceral sense of crucial urgency. From the hard-hitting intro song, “They’re Building A Gallows“, the deluge of energetic rock heaviness floods forth. Other songs like the amazing “Death On Mars” (video below), “Liquid Mistress“, and “Divisions” power forward with a devil-may-care attitude. Rife with thickened riffs, robustly resonating rhythmic ripples, and sledgehammer drumming, each new track seems more impressive than the last.
Then there are the astoundingly stellar stand-outs contained here like “Daughter And Heir“, “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue“, and, my favorite, “Crawling As The Crow Flies“. The latter is a semi-doomy thumper that possesses a touch or two of hazy psyche nuances. All combined, each of these tracks provides a piece to an utterly thunderous puzzle of magical aural greatness.
