Labels: self released
Review by: Alex Hannan
First six songs here from new Leeds punks COOL JERKS, some of whose members played in CLOSURE and VALHALLA PACIFISTS. The demo kicks off with two wired garagey stompers, as the JERKS throw around a series of elbows-out angular riffs. The stripped-down ideas and nagging choruses are underpinned by guitar work that is subtly varied and distinct from the bass patterns. It’s a spacious sounding recording which captures the place of all the instruments nicely. The vocals are hoarsely barked, relatively low in the mix.
Through the demo the guitarist gradually sprinkles in more and more reverbed chromatic flourishes, beginning with the mid-paced “Piss sauna” and “You kids”, last song “Eh” in particular taking on a SIEVEHEAD-like feel. The placement of the vocals makes more sense in these tunes – for me, the more DEAN DIRG-like numbers might have benefited from more of a front and centre, extrovert delivery. Still finding the sweet spot of their sound perhaps, but I hope this demo gets them a bunch of gigs, this is promising and should be a lot of fun live.