Izzy Stradlin And The Ju Ju Hounds - Izzy Stradlin/Ju Ju Hounds

Izzy Stradlin never looked entirely at home in Guns and Roses. Whilst the rest of the band were content to play the rock and roll glamour tarts, all hairspray and leathers, Stradlin always looked like he was on hire from a much cooler imaged band. If you were told that he was on loan from the Black Crowes, The Dogs D`Amour or even that he was the bastard son of Keith Richard, it would have been thoroughly believable. When he came to leave the rock ...
...fame, it came as no surprise, not to me anyway. I always felt that he had his own part to play in the creation of the modern rock mythology and surely its better to be a small and interesting footnote in the book than an overlooked statistic in the main story. So when his first album as the Ju Ju Hounds came out I was hungry to here the man.

Although Stradlin is the main name here, there are two other members that should get a mention. ... more

Izzy Stradlin never looked entirely at home in Guns and Roses. Whilst the rest of the band were content to play the rock and roll glamour tarts, all hairspray and leathers, Stradlin always looked like he was on hire from a much cooler imaged band. If you were told that he was on loan from the Black Crowes, The Dogs D`Amour or even that he was the bastard son of Keith Richard, it would have been thoroughly believable. When he came to leave the rock Leviathan that GnR had become at the height of its fame, it came as no surprise, not to me anyway. I always felt that he had his own part to play in the creation of the modern rock mythology and surely its better to be a small and interesting footnote in the book than an overlooked statistic in the main story. So when his first album as the Ju Ju Hounds came out I was hungry to here the man.

Although Stradlin is the main name here, there are two other members that should get a mention. The drummer Charlie Quintana, used to be with Hispanic/Punk fussion band Plugz, and if the name is not familiar their music will be to anyone who has seen Repo Man. The other guitarist, Rick Richards, was one time lead player in Southern Rockers The Georgia Satelites, a band who punked up country fuelled rock and made a string of successful and well recieved albums.

The reason that I have gone into such depth into the back ground of the band for what is essentally an album review is that by being aware of the members relative styles and past achievements, you should already have an idea what to expect from the band, Guns and Roses part two its NOT!

Opening with the simple guitar delivery of Somebody Knocking, the song comes at you like a Rolling Stones number, sleezy blues rock, and you can deffinatley hear the familliar Georgia Satelites guitar work underpinninng the music. Basically the combination of those two references work as a good summing up of a lot of what this album is about. But there are a few nice surprises. One of which is Pressure Drop, an old standard, the hounds version comes flying at you like the Clash on speed, all straight four four beats, tight rythmns and minimal derivation from the chord changes and then into a reggee ending to give you a bit of a breather.

Time Gone By is a loose, laid back, almost country mid paced number complete with Mandolin but still retainiing style and attitude with its great lead guitar pieces just popping through unexpectedly and a descending bass line that gets your foot tapping without your consent.

Shuffle It All and Train Tracks take us back into the pseudo Stones/Satalites territory all harmonised vocals and killer guitar riffs and Izzy`s alcohol cracked voice growling over the top.
The Mandolin is back for How Will It Go, a laid back ballad with its own Ju Ju Hounds sound, all pain and regret dripping down your stereo. The songs that I have not dissected in detail fall close to te style of those mentioned and those who have read my reviews before know that Im not into a track by track analysis, prefering the more hollistic approach.

To sum the band up, its blues rock, which doesnt make it sound that original, and I suppose on the surface its not an original concept, but it is some of the finest of its kind that you are likely to hear. If you are a fan of the Stones "Brown Sugar" era or you were into the Georgia Satelites then you will love it, but to be honest anyone with an ear for good, solid and imaginative guitar from a bunch of the finest musicians of their day, then this is the album for you.
 

...less