Blackjack Joker
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“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age”. So goes the quote from the great Sophia Loren, and this can most certainly be applied to Blackjack Joker. Although on the right side of their musical careers, albeit with three of them rocking away at the age of 15 and a fourth member at 19, the band play music with an intensity and sound beyond their years.
You may recall that a few months ago 4ortherecord reviewed their debut EP, You and Me. The core of the band still remain, with the exceptional lead singer and rhythm guitarist Loz Taylor supported by the reliable duo of Ash Picken and Karey Mogg on drums and bass respectively. However, a new addition has been made to the line up, with Takayoshi Inufasa replacing Harry Hudson on lead guitar and backing vocals.
Since that rather epic first appearance, the band has been working hard writing and recording new material. This has led to a new track being posted on their Myspace, giving fans a preview into what to expect when their new album is released this autumn.
Entitled 'Belief', in essence it can only be described as pure rock ‘n’ roll. The first 30 seconds of the track holds an anticipatory air; one that is just waiting to be seized and smashed in a frenzy as the guitarists ramp up the atmosphere with constant strumming. Then raw energy is unleashed in a drum roll, as industrious hard rock crashes into life. Taylors unique drawl comes in with attacking menace, opening the track with “one time in front of my face, two times behind my back”. This is Blackjack Joker with anger, playing at ferocious velocity. What particularly caught my eye (or my ear, for want of a better phrase) is the quality of the drumming. The bustling, well-rehearsed and more complex beats were different from those on the You and Me EP, highlighting Pickens progress as a drummer. They are more interesting, adding greater variation and complimenting what we already knew was quality guitar work.
It seems Blackjack Joker have picked up from where they left off, ramping up the volume and creating more crazed riff-laden tunes. It is utterly criminal that they are still unsigned. On this evidence, bring on the album.
Words: Alex Read
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