Review : Jupiter Falls ­- 'Revolution'

  A quick glance on Wikipedia tells me that the 18th century children’s night time prayer which includes those famous words “Now I lay me down to sleep…” has been a staple part of popular culture for some time now. The list or artists who have paraphrased it in some way or another is quite substantial, as well as varied. Artists ranging from Christina Aguilera and The Civil Wars, to Kanye West (sadly no-­one took him up on his offer of dying before he awoke) have all sampled it at some point but it’s the Metallica connection that we’re interested in here. Jupiter Falls have chosen to open their debut album with these very words. It’s the equivalent of aspiring gangsters lining up to pay their respects to the godfather at his daughter’s wedding. Throw in some Papa Hetfield inspired vocals, as well as “Black” album era guitars, and the influence of the American titans smacks you right in the face. Without bordering on parody, these young guys from Leeds have created a sound that is classic, modern and fresh all rolled up in one big ball of gigantic riffs and memorable hooks.   ‘Awake’ (the song that the prayer preludes) is a dark and snarling introduction to Jupiter Falls. Five minutes of Metallica-inspired riffs merged with some Layne Staley style angst-ridden vocals from James Hart, which help elevate the track to a higher place. Although it’s brooding in places, it’s the hooks that remain with you for some time, and the production from Roy Z is crisp and on the money. It also helps that the riffs and solos from Deano Silk encourage copious amounts of air guitar. Lead single, ‘Chasing The Dragon’ (video above), has been getting some serious airplay on rock radio, and it’s easy to see why. It highlights a band with real swagger. Confident without being cocky. It’s a belting hard rock track, with some sweet riffage that entices you in for a better look. The twin guitar sound from Silk and his cohort Zach Daniels is americanised in it’s execution, more Guns n’ Roses than say Thin Lizzy, and to me, nothing screams rock ‘n’ roll quite like two guitarists letting rip. Superb track. ‘To The Point’ is another G’n’R inspired gem, with a great Slash-­esque groove, and the solo mid song is bang on. Hart has a great voice, and he is equally at home on the classic rock moments as he is when the band put their collective feet down on the more meatier tracks, such as ‘Forgiven’, or ‘Story Of A Liar’. The faster tracks benefit hugely from some great work from the fellas in the engine room, Dan Clark (bass) and the amazingly named Lewie Lewington (drums) deserve special mention especially for the shift put in on ‘Forgiven’. ’World War Three’ is one of two big rock ballads (without actually being ballad­ like). A tale of how fucked up the world is right now, this is not a Bon Jovi style ballad, but it has the requisite soaring guitar solo that every slower,more emotional track has to have to get into the club. ’Someday’ is more traditionally ‘ballad’,­ and could have came from a late 80’s early 90’s episode of Vintage TV.