Reviews roundup – The Jive Aces vs. Drifting Sun vs. The JC Smith Band vs. En.Tsfauna vs. Chalice
THE JIVE ACES
Spread A Little Happiness
Golden Age Records
Hurrah! It’s time for a new Jive Aces album,which is always a good thing. And for those of who’ve followed their career for the last ten years or so, this is another treat.
It’s chock full of their patented swing / jump sound, with some excellent performances and arrangements of stand out tunes like the title track, ‘Bare Necessities’, ‘Get Me To The Church On Time’ and ‘In The Mood’. For sure, it loses a little impact by being an aural only experience, but pound for pound, this is as good as it gets in the world of modern retro.
If you only saw them on Britain’s Got Talent, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations or at the Olympic and Paralympic celebrations, then do yourself a favour and jump back on board. Because this swings.
DRIFTING SUN
Trip The Light Fantastic
independent
Time for some UK prog now, and the third album from Drifting Sun, a mere seventeen years on from their last one, with founding member and keyboard player/composer Pat Sanders bringing in Peter Falconer on vocals, Dan Storey on guitars and bass, Andrew Howard on guitars and Will Jones on drums to fulfill his musical vision.
And it’s a good one, especially if you were brought up on the eighties prog sounds of IQ, Pendragon and their ilk. There are some nods to the modern world of Dream Theater and their followers, but it’s mainly symphonic prog rock. It’s split between vocal and instrumental tracks, but it’s the former that really stand out, thanks to the extremely listenable vocals of Falconer.
Musically, you can’t pick faults with songs like ‘The Wizard’ grabbing you straight from the off. An excellent release that prog fans should be checking out immediately.
https://driftingsun.bandcamp.com/
THE JC SMITH BAND
Love Mechanic
Cozmik Records
Off to the American colonies now for some blues, courtesy of the JC Smith Band. And a mighty fine concoction it is too.
It’s a blues album that covers a lot of bases, kicking off with some great jump blues in the shape of ‘Jump For Joy’. It’s a fabulous way to start an album, and gets you girded for more. So it’s a shame that the one clunker on the album comes next, a cover of the James Brown tune, ‘Cold Sweat’. But it’s a rare misstep, and it’s not long before they’re back in the groove again.
There are some excursion into southern soul, a great take on the Elmore James number ‘Yonder Wall’, with some excellent vocals and strong instrumental performances all round. So they’ve got soul, they’ve got jump blues, they’ve got country blues and just damn, fine blues. Result.
EN.TSFAUNA
Play Your Game
independent
More prog now. Or to be completely accurate, art rock. And it’s from an oddly named Israeli trio called E.Tsfauna. Nope, me neither.
Musically, it’s off kilter art rock, but thematically it’s very prog, as it’s (huzzah!) a concept album. Deep breath, now. “The main idea is that a human has an options to manage his life as he wants. And to live in created reality.He creates it by his actions and thoughts, by his wishes and words.And the only viewer of such reality is the person itself. He plays a game he composed. The only problem that the game creates a life.”
Yes, really. Luckily, I left school with a foot up my arse, so I have no idea what they’re talking about, but I do have functioning ears, and know what s good band sounds like. When they’re not being too arty, there are lots of King Crimson like touches on tunes like ‘The Red Hat Story’ and ‘Lullaby’, and it’s one worth hearing if art rock is your thing.
CHALICE
Overyears Sensation
Keiler Records
Lastly, for today, it’s off to Germany for some classic hard rock. And it’s the first time I’ve heard them which considering they have seven studio albums to their name, and an array of support slots with the likes of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Doro, Asia and Magnum under their belt, is quite an achievement. Hence the title.
And what you’re getting is eighties sounding hard rock, with a hint of metal and a lot of melody. Which is a very good thing. It’s also a very German thing as they seem to following in the footsteps of bands like Bonfire and Craaft. Again, a good thing, and they’ve got the songs to pull it off.
Belters like ‘You Better Get Used to It’, ‘Rock N’ Roll Machine’ and ‘Glorious Again’ would have filled arenas back in the day, and the other songs are no slouches either. The music has a more “selective” audience these days, but given a chance, Chalice could win them all over.
The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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