LOST TREASURES
THE JOLT
“The Jolt”
By Peter Marston
[linebreak style=”25.png”]
Most movements in the history of pop run the gamut in terms of the quality of the music. There are great garage bands and fairly awful ones. British psych-pop embraces bands that created transcendent music and bands that produced only murky whimsy. I have often been struck by the late ’70s/early ’80s British Mod Revival, which, in my view, produced virtually no bad music. And one of the better bands in that movement, though not especially well-known, was The Jolt.
Though The Jolt are generally (and properly) associated with the Mod Revival, their origins are really in British punk. Inspired by the unabashed nerve of the early punks, The Jolt took up arms (OK, drums and guitars) in Glasgow, Scotland, in the summer of 1976. They began playing the same sort of ’60s R&B that inspired the original Mods, though in a style that shared more in common with punk than the ’60s British Beat boom that gave rise to the first-wave Mods. The band was put together by drummer Iain Shedden, who recruited guitarist and singer Robbie Collins, bassist Jim Doak and a fourth member whose name seems to have escaped the historical record. By 1977, original songs had mostly replaced covers in the setlist, the line-up was reduced to a three-piece and the entire outfit relocated to London. Based in large part upon their success as an opening act for The Jam, a recording contract with Polydor was secured, and the band sent straight into the studio with producers Vic Smith and Chris Parry at the helm. The resulting self-titled album was released in July, 1978.
The album opens with “Mr. Radio Man,” a song that neatly straddles the line between punk and Mod, the vocals and playing leaning toward the former and the changes and arrangement leaning toward the latter. Next up is a cover of the Small Faces’ “Watcha Gonna Do About It.” Again, it has a punky edge, but breaks into instrumental sections that echo the Who quite clearly. It probably won’t make you forget the Small Faces version, but it’s one of the best tracks here. “I Can’t Wait” alternates tense, angular verses with a ringing ascending chord pattern in the choruses, all to great effect. “Chains” (not the Goffin-King chestnut) is pure pop with changes that are at once catchy and a little dark. The bridge is especially well-constructed. “No Excuses” offers a Mod aesthetic, but at a punk tempo and features a terrific staccato guitar arrangement in the chorus. “Decoyed” bears less of a Mod influence, and is a fairly direct, if melodic, punk number. The minimalist chord solo in the instrumental break will surprise and delight the guitar players out there. The second side of the album opens with “I’m Leaving,” a track that again shoots the gap between punk and Mod with great precision, again with a very catchy chorus. “Everybody’s the Same” is built around a riff that recalls the early Dickies, but the material between the riff is fairly traditional garage rock. Not very Mod at all. “In My Time” sometimes sounds a little like The Keys, but big guitars in the set-ups and choruses bring us right back to the usual Jolt attack (with a very economical—and by that, I mean very brief—and effective guitar solo). “Hard Lines” is one of the catchiest songs on the record, though it seems held back somewhat by a very simple arrangement—until the solo, which nearly jumps out of the speakers. “(Can’t You Tell) It’s Over” is a charming pop number that contrasts faux R&B verses with vaguely Merseybeat choruses and bridges. The album closes with “All I Can Do,” a straight-ahead punk-rocker, this time sounding a bit more influenced by New York than London.
Three singles were drawn from The Jolt: “All I Can Do,” “I Can’t Wait” and “Watcha Gonna Do About It.” All three singles preceded the release of the album. Though the singles and the album received some acclaim, there were no hits as such. A final EP, Maybe Tonight, was released in 1979, featuring both a fourth member, Kevin Key, and a cover of Paul Weller’s “See Saw.” The EP sold even fewer copies than the previous releases and The Jolt consequently disbanded, right as the Mod Revival was beginning to peak. Shedden went on to drum with another Mod band, The Small Hours.
The Jolt was reissued on CD in 2002 on the Captain Mod label (an imprint of Captain Oi!). It’s definitely pricey, but includes seven bonus tracks, all of which are quite good (including an energetic reading of “Route 66”). If, like me, you can’t get enough retread Mod, you won’t want to miss it!
================
Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.” Peter has a new project in 2015 under the name MARSTON. They will have a track on the upcoming “Power Pop Planet – Volume 5” compilation due in June, 2015.
You check it out at this link: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang
================
[linebreak style=”25.png”]
LINKS:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jolt
AMG: http://www.allmusic.com/album/jolt-mw0000660536
History: http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/jolthistory.htm
Blog Post: http://sonsofthedolls.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-jolt-jolt.html
VIDEOS:
“I Can’t Wait”
“I’m Leaving”
“I”m In Tears”
“In My Time”
