Brother
JT - The Svelteness of Boogietude (Thrill
Jockey)
LP/CD/DL
13
May 2013
John Terlesky, founder of the Original Sins, could
well be our 21st Century Boy.
Not only does the album title hint at a Bolan influence, but the tracks
could almost be modern day replies to the master song-writer. Gongs are banged and guitars are boogie-fied
on thirteen memorable tracks which could quite easily, for the uninitiated, be
Bolan covers.
You won’t find many a better album opener than the
stomp of ‘Celebrate Your Face’ which also has more than a casual nod in the
direction of Bowie circa Spiders From Mars.
It’s immediate, it’s brash and bold, and it’s the perfect progression to
the 70s glam sound. There could even be
the riff from ‘The Slider’ hidden at the bottom of the ‘Glider’ but surely I’m
reading too much into this? If I was,
them I have no defence for ‘T.Rex Blues’ where the tribute can’t get any more
obvious.
The Brother pieces together Zinc Alloy and boogies
like the best of them. He is a master
craftsman, making the music I was a toddler to, classic again. Journeying into roll-along pop rock with ‘Be
A’ in a way that brings to mind Donovan’s ‘Season Of The Witch’ and even
references the late great Ravi Shankar.
With song titles like ‘Sweatpants’ and ‘I Still Like Cassettes’, can you
take an artist like this seriuously? On
the face of it, probably not, particularly when you hear the teddy bear squeaks
and faux blaxploitation accent on the former, oozing hilarious funky sex like
you’ve never heard, but you can’t help but love it and begin to think that Mr
Terlesky is actually a modern day musical genius.
Things even take a quite lovely turn with the slow,
acid induced, love feeling of ‘Green Curtain’ before cranking up again to the
military stomp of ‘Things I Like’ with the razor edge vocals holding together
yet another addictive tune. ‘Many Man
Smoke’ takes you on a trip you’re grateful you didn’t experience firsthand with
echoes and swirls and fumes merry-going around your brain like a Wurlitzer
possessed. You’ve never tried
drugs? You’ll feel like you have after
this!
The huge anthemic tracks on this album blend perfectly
with the more placid numbers like ‘Mourning Dove’ and when the album ends on
the Ozric Tentacles infused ‘Flotsam And Jetsam’ you’re left longing for more.
This album deserves to be recognised in 2013. It’s original, it’s brave, and it has more
Metal Guru than you can shake a dusty Les Paul at. Marvellous.
9/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 13/05/13 - http://louderthanwar.com/brother-jt-the-svelteness-of-boogietude-album-review/
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