OCTOBER 5, 1998
BLUE PYRAMID
The Gone Jackals
Blue/Black Records
Review by: Bob Pierce
As much as I've tried to
make "The Daily Vault" a friend to the
independent artist, sometimes
I don't quite look forward to checking out
some of the releases I get
in the mail. Some of them just seem to scream
"bar band that wants to
make good", and I try to put listening to those
discs off as long as possible.
(I know it's a terrible thing to admit,
but when you've got the
backlog that I've got in my in basket, some
corners need to be cut.)
Then, there is Keith Karloff
and The Gone Jackals. I have to admit I
wasn't looking forward to
listening to Blue Pyramid, but found myself at
my "real" job at one o'clock
in the morning listening to it... and
wondering why the hell I
hadn't popped this disc on earlier. Simply put,
The Gone Jackals are no
half-assed bar band, nor are they a throwback to
the glory days of hard rock
and heavy metal. Instead, they are a solid
rock band that better be
given a break pretty damned quick.
Vocalist/guitarist Karloff
and his backing band - guitarist/vocalist
Judd Austin, bassist R.D.
Maynard and drummer/vocalist Trey Sabatelli -
grind through twelve solid
songs that help reaffirm even the biggest
skeptic's faith in up-and-coming
rock and roll. Repeated listens to Blue
Pyramid only confirm stronger
what you begin to suspect almost from the
moment you push "play" for
the first time: this disc's a winner.
From the opening notes of
"Covering Hallowed Ground," The Gone Jackals
create their own style of
rock that lightly borrows from some of their
forefathers without blatantly
stealing riffs or attitudes. The resulting
sound and songwriting is
all their own, as a result. Tracks like "13X,"
"Evil Twin Sisters," "No
Sign Of Rain" and "Bustin' A Move" are all
tracks which will have you
coming back for more almost the moment the
disc ends.
You might be skeptical about
the abilities of a rock band who features
song titles like "Barrel
Of Crabs" and "That Blows My Mind," but these
songs are just as strong
as the others mentioned. All the songs just
seem to come together very
well, and are well-performed. This is half
the battle; the other half
is keeping the listener interested throughout
the disc. And while my attention
occasionally drifted, for the most
part, I was locked into
what I was listening to.
Only at the end of the disc,
on the title track, does the energy level
seem to dip a bit - but
this is a small point of contention out of this
whole disc. Karloff, a veteran
of the music scene, knows how to create a
good song and execute it,
though credit must be shared with his
bandmates as well. Their
voices are heard just as loudly through their
instruments as Karloff's
singing.
Blue Pyramid is not an album
you would normally hear of or see on the
store shelves for an impulse
buy. But if Karloff and crew get the right
breaks (and I hope they
come soon for this band), that all might change.
Don't be surprised if by
this time next year The Gone Jackals are, at
the very least, holding
a solid support act status on a major tour. God
knows they're good enough,
and Blue Pyramid proves that... and more.
RATING: A-
© 1998 Robert Pierce.
All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not
be reproduced without written
permission. Cover art is the intellectual
property of Blue/Black Records,
and is used for references purposes
only.
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