A guest posting by Acid Ted
Jesus Jones – Nobody knows if they are alive or dead ICA
Jesus Jones are one of those late 80s/early 90s bands that have been unfairly forgotten. They had a blistering mix of guitars and samplers. They started in 1988, had a few big hits, including in the USA. But they seemed to fade quickly after their more industrial edged album Perverse (1993). They took a hiatus but came back in the early noughties and have been touring and releasing material ever since. Here’s an idiosyncratic look at their career. This is designed to fit on a CD, including the two bonus tracks at the end.
Jesus Jones formed in late 1988 in London, England. They were built around Mike Edwards, the band’s lead vocalist and primary songwriter who was from Bradford on Avon, near Bath. He wanted to merge rock music with dance and electronic music. Edwards was joined by bassist Al Doughty, guitarist Jerry De Borg, drummer Gen (Simon Matthews), and keyboardist Iain Baker. They were signed to Food Records (which became part of EMI) alongside Blur.
Info Freako – PWL Remix 12″ (1989)
Their rock and dance template was set in their first single Info Freako. This was taken from debut album Liquidizer. It had themes of information overload that remain relevant today. The original version has an industrial edge. But I’ve gone from the softer and dancier PWL Remix version. It’s fun but can’t help feeling a touch dated.
Real Real Real (Rhythm 1) Raw Mix (1990)
Taken from the band’s second album Doubt but released ahead of the album, the single Real Real Real came in a myriad of versions. It got to 19 on the UK Singles Chart and became the band’s second top-10 US hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991.
A track that questions perception and reality. There’s a lovely funkiness about this version, despite the slightly tinny 1980s syndrum sound. That’s overcome by the guitar / chorus combination which meant I’d never tried to work out what this was about until writing this ICA.
Move Mountains (Ben Chapman 7” Mix) (1990)
Staying in 1990 but switching back to a track from Liquidizer we have Move Mountains in its Ben Chapman version. I do love the combination of House piano and squally sampler on the intro. This track is about faith, life and human experience. “Nothing I can do or say, Will ever move people this way.”
None of the Answers (1989)
My favourite Jesus Jones track and the source of the title of this ICA. None of the Answers was a B side to Bring It On Down. The sample “Nobody knows if they are alive or dead” may act as a kind of story for Jesus Jones but is in fact Jeremy Paxman’s report on Newsnight about (the bravery of) the protestors at Tiananmen Square – a piece of Chinese state brutality which seems to have been largely written out of the West’s conscience.
Who? Where? Why? 12 Foot Mix (1991)
Another track from the album Doubt. I’ve gone for another remix here as this version offers a synth driven strangeness that the original lacks. It also has a big whomping drum sound that you need in your life. That strangeness is reflected in the lyrics which muse on confusion about one’s true self and being an observer on your life.
IBTY 12 (International Bright Young Thing) (1991)
The third single from Doubt and once which got to No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. It was their highest placing if not their strongest track. The theme is pretty self-explanatory. This 12” version offers plenty of time for musical interludes from the slightly lack lustre lyrics.
Enough – Never Enough (1990)
As a break from the dancier tracks above here’s Enough – Never Enough, a B side to the Never Enough single. This version cranks the guitars up to 11 and sets course for something more grating and industrial. Think Kennedy era Weddoes with an added sampler. A howl of protest about everything “So you want to be happy, Don’t you know happy is never enough.”
Welcome Back Victoria (1990)
A track from Doubt that is more low key than their usual fare and also more directly political being an attack on late era Margaret Thatcher. “Welcome back Victoria, Clean books, clean screens, clean words. Dirty minds”
Broken Bones (1989)
This is a band favourite and a B side to Info Sicko (above). It’s a hymn to the inevitability of failure. Key lyrics: “You can crawl, you can walk, You can beg or you can talk, There’ll always be broken bones.” And I love the way there’s no fade at the end, just a sudden explosive collapse.
Animal Instinct (2024)
A recent track that shows their current much more rock focused stance. It demonstrates they’re showing no signs of slowing down.
Right Here Right Now (The Martyn Phillips Mix) (1990)
Saved until late, here’s their big hit. This was a big hit in the USA and also among US soldiers in the first Gulf War. It’s a song about the end of the Cold War. And it has a massively catchy chorus, perfect for singalongs.
Next Big Thing (1997)
Taken from the album Already, this is another muse on technology and the love of the new and the jadedness that it brings. Features a lovely chiming guitar riff.
Blissed (1990)
As this ICA starts to come to a close the last track is the come down track Blissed. Taken from the album Doubt it’s about as low key as Jesus Jones got. Key lyric: if the sun shines today, I think I’ll stay here anyway, and if the world makes demands of me, then I’ll wait and see.”
Lovers of guitars should probably stop here. But the curious or more electronically minded should continue and enjoy two extra tracks.
Hidden tracks:
Zeroes and Ones (Aphex Twin Reconstruction) (1993)
Jesus Jones had very few offbeat remixes, of which this one is the most famous. Aphex Twin does his angular IDM thing and retains virtually nothing of the original except the fragment of Mike Edwards singing which is looped forever.
Metambient (Demo) (1995)
Released on The Collection – A Selection Of Band Favourites And Rarities (2011) this is a proper piece of aching ambient with its lyrics of philosophy and beyond.
And here’s the entire ICA on Spotify. Click here.
Acid Ted
JC adds……..
Once again, in case you don’t know the back story…….Acid Ted has been the blog’s longest-serving guest contributor – his first guest posting would have been back in 2007, but so many of his pieces were lost when Google removed the old blog. AcidTed was also the first non-Glasgow blogger I ever met face-to-face, as far back as October 2009. And above all else, he was the person who stepped in back in 2010 and 2011 when a couple of deaths, firstly to my brother and then my best friend, meant I had to take a couple of extended breaks.
If you’re remotely interested in dance music, then his place is an absolute treasure trove. Click here.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 