John Jenkins And The James Street Band, Day After Day. E.P. Review.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
To be able to reflect upon life, to look upon the world and your place within it and understand that you can at least alter, mend, see through the course of revolution, then that is the point where you can look the clock in the eye and say that Day After Day you did your utmost to see Time as the way to beat injustice and social flaws that seem to creep back into our lives like a swarm of Ants finding a crack in the skirting and leaving their footprints over the forgotten dust of rhythm and rebellion.
It takes the heart of a person wishing to see change, having the heart and stomach to fight for it, in which we see those same ants of decay turn to dust themselves, whether it is in the passion of the speech, or in the tune performed which celebrates the ability to observe keenly and provide insight in how to gently hit with maximum damage to those who seek to undermine all that has been fought for.
We observe in different ways, for many in today’s society it is a kind of accepted belief that the blind eye is preferable, the silence of appeasement a superior choice. For some their words are misdirected, they are calculated to hurt the vulnerable, to inflict pain on what they consider to be the easy target. To be at the heart of revolution and change, words do not need to be filed with poison, the softest word can heal as much as it can wound and for John Jenkins and the James Street Band, the five songs that make up the new E.P. Day After Day, that soft and gentle refrain is the proof positive that such bounty and admonishment can be maintained in tandem.
The five-songs captured superbly by John Jenkins, Denis Parkinson, David Nixon, Dave Orford and Steve Atkinson, and with guest appearances by Marc Vormawah, Jon Lawton, Matt Lawton and Nick Toft, reflect time, the observance of the sadness we encounter, and yet as always there is a beautiful insistence of John Jenkins lyrical prowess always shining a ray of positive and responsible change down upon the listener.
Whether in Luxury Stains Everything It Touches, Why, The Simple Things, Be Careful What You Wish For and the E.P. title track Day After Day, John Jenkins and the James Street Band consider broadly the brush strokes they have made, the assuredness of their keen eye and the reflection that they look for in others virtues and responsibilities; it can only be hoped that they see goodness, the same revolutionary heart that inflames theirs.
Ian D. Hall