It’s more of the same from Jerry Joseph and his crack band and guests, as on Volume 1, but what a same to be more of!
Jerry Joseph is fan favourite and greatly loved at AUK Towers. You can read any number of articles about him and his band in the back pages of the magazine, but the context in which this album is released is best explored in Tim Martin’s excellent review of its immediate predecessor Panther Tracks Volume 1 (here). Panther Tracks Volume 2 ( the second of what promises to be a four-volume series) continues in the same vein as Volume I, studio recordings of songs that Joseph and his band have been playing live regularly, but which, despite being firm favourites on the live circuit had never been laid down in the studio. The omissions are repaired here.
Joseph allegedly has a back catalogue of more than 400 songs, so, unsurprisingly, his live performances can vary from gig to gig, especially as he often plays solo, rather than with his crack band, the Jackmormons, made up of Joseph on electric guitar, Steven James Wright on bass, and Steve Drizos (also producer) on drums and synths. Over the years, some of his best songs (for he is also a very good songwriter – “long one of my favourite songwriters, one of the absolute best of our generation” according to Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers) lay unrecorded until the decision to embark on this new series.
Joseph is now in his mid-60s and has lived what you might call a varied and interesting life – born in San Diego but sent to boarding school in New Zealand, from where he was deported for various examples of juvenile delinquency, forming a band in the early 80s, the first of many collaborations over the years, often running in parallel with the band that he formed in 1996, The Jackmormons; this has been his regular band over the last thirty years despite changing personnel early on in its life. He had issues with addiction from which he recovered in the 90s. Joseph has worked with any number of other artists who recognise his talents, many of whom have appeared on his numerous solo or collaborative recordings over the years.
So, we have Panther Tracks Volume 2 (named after Drizos’ studio in Portland), another helping of a potpourri of rock and americana styles, from Prog rock to the Band to punk rock and to Neil Young, delivered with great panache by the trio, with the spendid addition of Jenny Conlee (The Decemberists) on piano and keys, Eric Martinez on additional electric guitars, Sweden’s Dimpker Brothers on harmonies together with Little Sue Weaver and Todd Wright on selected tracks, and Paul Brainard, with a magnificent turn on trumpet and steel guitar on the second track.
Frost Heavies, the opener, has a great slow riff to start then breaks into mid-tempo rock territory on a song that explores the possibilities of reactivating a long-lost relationship, but against one’s better judgment. Call-back vocals are a feature here and often throughout the album, while Conlee adds great texture on various keyboards and acoustic piano. I Think I’m Here is an upbeat song about reviewing past times with a lover, some memories good and some not so much. It’s a countryfied rocker with a cinematic feel, with Conlee prominent again, some great harmonies and the muted trumpet and steel guitar of Brainard in a fantastic wall of sound that swells and retreats, then swells again over its 6 and a half minutes, as the guests duel with Joseph’s powerful guitar. The song and arrangement have echoes of Michael McDermott or even Honey Harper from their 2022 album.
Watching Me, written with Joseph’s friend Woody Harrelson, has the usual swathe of sound, before a soaring guitar solo emerging, with great callback vocals on the title line and Conlee once again to the fore (she really is a star ingredient), as synths swirl around the rather abstract lyrics about heavenly surveillance and the comfort of family. Soda Man starts with subtle synths and an acoustic guitar riff before Wright’s wonderfully dark bass line that rumbles throughout the track about journeying into deepest jungles, searching for salvation and exploring the links between youth and adulthood, as Joseph lets loose with his most Neil Young-like solo, and Conlee’s organ towards the end rounds off rather nicely its nearly 9 minutes. A truly great perfomance, it’s a gorgeous melange of sound and possibly Drizos’ best performance on the album, with light conga-style percussion adding to his sharp drumming. Bright Young Thing is the shortest track on the album at under 4 minutes, on a faster punk-like, slightly 70s-sounding muted political statement, with call-back vocals and a farfisa-sounding organ in the background.
To finish Joseph treats us to the rolling Pumpkin Time, reflecting on life’s fleeting moments “All the things you could’ve done / Years you can’t get back / Pumpkin time, it’s pumpkin time / Better keep your head, pumpkin time”. Usual great harmonies, some dirty guitar work, piano, synths and organ all creating the ubiquitous wall of sound in a final flourish.
This is a really excellent album indeed, bridging the small divide between rock and americana with some fine songs, superb playing and polished as-live production and, as my colleague Tim noted, you just want to hit play again.
