Hopeless
Jack & The Handsome Devil – Shallow Hearts - Shallow Graves
(Independent)
Hopeless Jack is, err, Hopeless Jack and the Handsome
Devil is Smilin’ Pete. Jack sings and strums and Pete bashes and crashes.
Together, the pair of them play the blues, and I’m sure when you’re presented
with two musicians, a guitarist-singer and a drummer, indulging in that
particular genre, certain monochrome names like White Stripes and Black Keys
come most readily to mind. I’m sure Hopeless Jack and Smilin’ Pete wouldn’t
object too strongly to the comparisons, but there’s something extra raw and
swampy in what they do, and I’m more inclined to place them alongside other artists
on the Fat Possum roster, artists like R.L. Burnside and the decidedly
unpolished Paul ‘Wine’ Jones.
The invitingly titled “Shallow Hearts - Shallow
Graves” hits the ground running. “Hopeless Love” boogies hard and fast, its
relentless rhythmic shimmy would inspire even the most terminally
undemonstrative to shake a leg or two. On “Say My Name” Jack shows what a good
slide guitarist he is, and the fluidity of his style is matched by Pete’s
unerring beat. They reach their pinnacle on the seven-plus minutes of “Ashley's Song”. Keyboards underpin their blues, a
female backing singer wails like she’s just stepped out of a Pink Floyd “Dark
Side…” session, and the duo build the tension through layers of unyielding
guitar squall and walking rhythms. It’s an immense achievement, almost
exhausting in its uncompromising stance. And when it ends, I generally play it
again.
Tony S.
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