One of the most over-worked clichés around is to refer to someone as a ‘living legend’, but I have to admit it’s hard to deny in relation to Liverpool’s EDGAR JONES. With The Stairs, the short-lived Big Kids, The Joneses and the unclassifiably amazing ‘Soothing Music for Stray Cats’ LP, he’s spent over two decades now making stunningly out-there records and continually pushing further ahead while the world shows no sign of catching up.
So while you’d normally argue that Edgar’s constantly five years ahead of his time, you could (on paper) suggest that his new venture – THE EDGAR JONES FREE PEACE THING – is a step in the reactionary direction after his soul-jazz-blues thing, Edgar Jones & The Jones. The Free Peace Thing is, after all, a classic Big Rock trio with Edgar back on bass and the FPT kickin’ out the jams in incendiary style.
There’s actually some truth in that dubious theory. With drummer Nick Miniski and guitarist Stuart Gimblett making up a power trio armed with sizeable sonic guns, ‘Stormy Weather’ has its’ monumentally squally spells of Cream/ Zeppelin-style overload, not least during the imperiously heavy ‘Good Lovin’ and the mega-epic closer ‘Bones’ where crushing Sabbath-style doom riffs give way to intense freak-outs, Space Rock breakdowns and a whole lot more.
Yet to pigeonhole it as merely Edgar’s ‘Led Zeppelin 2’ is to sell it some way short, even if dirty great cranked-up Rock’n’Roll is often the order of the day. For starters, ‘Shake It Loose’ is an exciting an opener as you’ll hear all year. With Gimblett spewing out riffs like an unholy alliance of Chuck Berry and The Only Ones’ John Perry and Miniski’s cymbal heavy clatter urging them on, Edgar’s bass rides the groove while his distortion-heavy vocal (“I heard that Frederick Nietzsche gave you some tips for the beach, so COME ON!”) spits out wonderful nonsense parables.
Elsewhere, ‘I Don’t Need Your Roses’ also keeps the garage-rock freak flag flying, while ‘No Reverse Gear Blues’ sets up an ultra-hypnotic lysergic groove. ‘Hot Potatoes’ re-invents a Stax-y Soul number from Edgar’s Big Kids days and turns it into something supremely funky and heavy ( a Scouse ‘All Right Now’ anyone?) while ‘Big Fanny’ (no, really) makes like a cross-pollination of ‘Moby Dick’ and Bo Diddley’s voodoo-drenched ‘Who Do You Love?’
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I’m still not quite sure what to make of the looped, electro-groove of the confounding ‘Warm Salad’, but there’s no denying the brilliance of the stunning title track. Initially funky and mellow with plenty of space for Edgar’s remarkable Memphis-meets-Mersey voice, its’ lithe groove gradually gives way to an inspired freak-out which never once threatens to derail or lose touch with its’ intricate plot. In layman’s terms, it’s magnificent and possibly the album’s crowning glory, though I get the feeling there’s a whole lot more where this magic was divined from.
‘Stormy Weather’, then, is a fabulous debut. The title and Edgar’s sleeve notes suggest it had a protracted germination period, but its’ big proud noises tell of triumph snatched from adversity. On the closing ‘Bones’, Edgar sings defiantly of how he’s “gonna keep on believin’ no matter what I’m told” and of this vow we need have no doubt. However rocky the road gets, Edgar Jones is gonna see his singular journey through. One day, the world will realise what it’s missing.
The Viper Label online
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