ON IMPULSE

What can be said about Jump that hasn't been already? Surely there can be few discerning rock lovers out there who haven't seen this band on one of their many treks around the country, and hopefully I will again have the chance to catch up with them when they headline the Friday night at Whitchurch on the 2nd August. This is their eighth album, in which time they have had only one change of line-up, and even new boy Andy Faulkner has been with them for over three years. While they often find themselves placed in with the prog crowd, in reality the band have musically little in common with the many bands basing their whole career on the collected works of Genesis or Pink Floyd. This is a rock band, first and foremost, and while the foundations are a strong rhythm section with some added keyboards, the band are driven by the twin guitars of Steve Hayes and Pete Davies. They have complimentary styles and can play harmonies, riffs, or add gentle touches and musical lines to give songs depth and presence. Talking of presence, at the front of all of this is the towering figure of one John Dexter Jones who not only provides a fair set of pipes but strides the stage and the music like a Welshman on a mission.

'On Impulse' takes a little while to get going, and while I enjoyed the first few songs I felt that the edge wasn't quite there, but "Bethesda" marked a turning point. The delicacy of the music belies the power and emotion of the words and the band have come alive. "Right Winger" is strong on slide guitar, while "Thom's New Clothes" is a lesson in building to a crescendo and sounds like classic Horslips. Having started to crank it up, the highlight of the album is next in "Like A Drum". The guitars are powerful, and the emotion and passion are physical beasts, just waiting to be unleashed as they are on the bridge. This must be awesome live.

To follow that up is a delicate number, just basically John and an acoustic guitar, while "Doctor Spin" again shows the band rocking along. Overall it may not be a truly great album, but it does contain some truly great songs and I am sure that with more plays I will appreciate the whole even more. Available from Cyclops or contact the band at www.jumprock.co.uk.

Originally appeared in Feedback #69, Aug 02