Jools‘ sixth single “Cross Dressing In A Freudian Slip” is slated for release toward the end of this month. Comprising, in no particular order, Mitchell Gordon, Peter McLeod, Ellis Crowson, Chris Johnson, Sam Shooter, and Thomas Selby, Jools (named after British broadcaster Jools Holland) is six angry young Englishmen with a social conscience they’re not ashamed to put on display to the world.
Best described as Bloc Party meets Joy Division, Jools’ press lists influences including The Cure, Ramones, and Pixies. There are five other releases in the Jools canon: Hysterical Starving Naked (November 2019) based on a Ginsberg work; and How Can Some Experience What Pride Is Without Liberation For All (September 2020), their take on the George Floyd incident and the resulting BLM movement from a distant but no less relevant Leicester perspective. More offerings, “Spineless” and “Almost Famous“, are companions for “Hysterical” on their homepage having the same young man on the cover-art across the three releases. But as I don’t / won’t Spotify, I can’t comment on these tracks.
“Plugd” features as a 13’44” live set the only way bands have been able this year- in the studio. Their energy and live-production qualities are not lacking in any way; Almost Famous is the stand-out from this set! What you can expect in their Farm Fest and Furnace spots next year, and during their postponed yet sold out local spots, is on full display. The energy on display during this gig is akin to that delivered by Bloc Party’s debut all those years ago; the guitars in battle and in concert at the same time, driven by that killer rhythm section. Wow!
Support from the media hasn’t been lacking, either, with “Experience” being featured on Daniel P. Carter’s “Rockiest Record of the Week” on BBC Radio 1 and Alex Baker’s “Track of the Week” on Kerrang Radio. They’re even a favourite on Brazil’s A Radio Rock. But their forthcoming “Cross Dressing in a Freudian Slip” is why we’re here today.
CDIAFS is heavier on the Joy Division bass-presence and introduces a keyboard-styled effect to drive the that are more spoken than sung Keli Okereke-styled vocals: like Blur‘s Parklife but with nothing about being woken by the dustman or feeding the sparrers in the park. Its strong chorus projects the anger toward world injustices that the guys have always wanted to express. I can already hear it on discerning radio stations on this side of the planet!
Fingers crossed that someone picks it up, and soon, but with all the support they’ve garnered thus far, the trajectory the band is taking following the direction of this music, Jools, redefining rock and roll in the third decade of the third millennium, has very, very far to go indeed!