Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons “Panther Tracks – Volume 1”

A masterclass in taking powerful performances into the studio without losing the raw energy of one of the great live singers.

Jerry Joseph is one of the most explosive live performers you’ll see. Armed with just and acoustic guitar and a performance dynamic enough to power a small town he throws himself into every song.

When a conversation with Widespread Panic Bassist Dave Schools turned, in Joseph’s words, to talk of a “parallel universe where I was a big rock star and which songs would be my hits? If you asked my fans, many of those songs are only on live records, songs that never saw studio versions. So, we made a list of those songs and with the momentum from Happy Book, our weekly virtual live show we started during Covid, we went into Steve Drizos’ studio, The Panther, and recorded them.”

Six original songs and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘You Want It Darker’ may sound like shortchange in the days of sixteen track albums for the Spotify algorithm, but the 40-minute running time allows every song space to find its own soul. The “core power trio” of The Jackmormons which includes Steven James Wright on Bass and drummer and producer Steve Drizos produce a raw noise which is enhanced by a guest list of Portland musicians. ‘Pink Light’ includes Jenny Conlee’s piano and organ, Little Sue’s backing vocal and a lyric which references the Iwo Jima Flag and a Drive By Trucker’s tee shirt. The dense dirty sound reflects his live shows with squalls of guitar which Neil Young would be proud of. Jerry Joseph throws himself into every song with a passion that a friend described, on seeing him live for the first time, as like being doused in jet fuel. On ‘Pink Light’ he keeps up the relentless pace pausing only to catch breath and regroup for the big finale. And all of a sudden 7 minutes have gone by in a rush.

‘You Want It Darker’ is just that, Conlee’s organ, shrieking guitar, and radio feedback threaten to overwhelm the vocal, which starts as spoken word, before building to another huge epic climax from the vocal choir. The song almost collapses from exhaustion after 6 minutes, but the mix of Joseph’s hard driving Americana with extended extemporising again make the song feel like it has lasted forever, and no time at all. I learnt from our Andrew Frolish’s interview with Joseph that he and Dave Schools worked together in Jam Band Stockholm Syndrome and that he has supported Widespread Panic, one of the leading lights of that scene, many times, which makes sense in the context of these songs.

‘Way Too Loud’ a song structured almost like a Grateful Dead tune was written with Joseph’s late friend Daniel Hutchens of Bloodkin. Eric Martinez’ guitar wails through a solo which mixes Neil Young with Jerry Garcia. More big choruses which include the Dimpker brothers Martin and Adam, and an insistent beat which burns away behind Martinez, Hammond Organ and the singers. Next, we have a new song, ‘New Lincoln.’ Drizos and Conlee pound at drums and piano. Another intense guitar solo ups the tempo on the shortest song on the album which has an almost seventies new wave feel and really could have been a hit.

The dub reggae of ‘Electra Glide in Blue’ gives Steven James Wright his moment in the sun with a rock-solid bass line. The sinuous groove of this tune lets out the subtleties of the songwriting and makes an excellent palette cleanser for the fuzz guitar opening of ‘Hearts Gone Blind.’ An eight-and-a-half-minute Country Rock anthem which chugs along at mid-tempo over yet another big guitar solo, which fades away into the sort of shift of mood that Joseph uses to make the rocket-fuelled parts of his songs even more powerful. The repeated title line becomes a hypnotic mantra behind his vocal, and the almost drone like music. Filling the last couple of minutes of the song with a wall of sound.

With the album over you just want to hit play again to relive the experience. If Neil Young and Crazy Horse are reaching the end of the road then Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons are the inheritors of the crown of the supreme noise band.