Glistening Pleasure: Jonny Rumble, Almost Dead

Label: Limey Jam
Rating: 3.5 Guns

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Written by: Hilary Hughes

“Rock and roll is hanging by a thread”: That’s the final line of the chorus to Almost Dead, the first track on Jonny Rumble’s latest release of the same title. I definitely sank my teeth into Rumble’s biting words upon my first listen, and the abrasive-yet-attractive coupling of power chords and articulate lyrics had me hooked. Jonny Rumble speaks to themes of discontent, which are backed by harsh guitar riffs and discordant melodies. On Almost Dead, their sentiments ring through the distortion loud and clear.

To the delight (or chagrin) of eager listeners everywhere, Jonny Rumble’s got no problem setting the record straight when it comes to their feelings on the state of the music industry and the world today. “Almost Dead” calls out the likes of Nickleback and Dave Matthews Band as (debatable) talent that mainstream audiences today are turning to as a consolation prize to real rock and roll. “Modern Way”, the first single off the new album, continues down Rumble’s cynical warpath (“someone pulled the trigger on Marvin Gaye/they laid him face down in his modern grave/and it bothers me… the situation’s changed”).

There’s a melancholy that echoes on tracks like “First Pick” and “Saved” which balances out the eyebrow-raising meld of musical anger and vocal assault; elements of bluegrass compliment these contemplative treasures and points out Rumble’s diversity in composition sets them apart today from the other distortion-loving alternative punk-revivalists that saw their heyday in the mid-nineties.

Like this band? You may also like: The Ramones, The Clash, Johnny Cash