JBRI: JBRI

Just what exactly is a JBRI you may ask? In truth, I’m not sure I can answer that question but I can tell you that it comprises bass guitarist Jon Bastable (The Trudy) and guitarist and keyboard player Robert Illesh (Blim, Aquaplanage). Along the way it also features William D Drake (The Cardiacs) on mellotron, James Larcombe (hurdy-gurdy), Steve Carney (vocals - but this album is mainly instrumental) and Mitch Harwood (drums). The main duo themselves describe their endeavours as an exploration of space rock meets art rock meets jazz rock, and who am I to argue? Especially when that description is wholly accurate. In fairness, I’d also throw in the word progressive just to broaden things out, but you get the idea.

Unusually for music of this ilk there is also a little side of humour, with the riff driven opener given the spectacular title of “D’kin Riff Uckulous�, but that doesn’t make the flute interspersed romp a massive slab of Judas Priest on laughing gas. Instead we’re kind of talking Hawkwind meets Ozric Tentacles with some keyboards that Opeth might squirrel away for themselves and pretend that they sound very ‘evil’. It is also a cracking introduction to a surprisingly eclectic album, “Countdown�, which does indeed feature a countdown, but not Richard Whitely unfortunately, almost hypnotising itself into a trance like situation in mood (not that beat driven craze for the cool kids, thankfully), while “Circles�, which features vocals, although not always singing, feels almost mythical and mystical in its slow, determined grandeur. “Living Nightmare� on the other hand, with some quirky spoken word sections that move the narrative along, and glorious harmony vocals, is way more energetic in its skip and jump. A loosely neo-prog like jog gleefully sliding the rug from out under your feet, such is its irresistible energy.

Bastable, Illesh and friends lock in tight right across this album, tasty lead guitar lines sparking where need be, keyboards and mellotron demanding the centre of the floor when the opportunity arises. The drumming from Mitch Harwood, while concise, does a superb job of holding everything snug and compact, but in the most loose fashion - you always get the impression that he lets his kids run free while somehow knowing their every last move.

While not exactly carefree in its construction, this outing does tend to flit all over the place and personally I’ve found that aspect on some occasions to be a real strength as you segue from the jagged, almost 80s sci-fi of “The Taking� to the more foreboding “Void�, but on other visits for no apparent reason the path taken can become a little jarring. That however is my only criticism here, JBRI delivering a debut outing that satisfies on many levels and maintains its high standards throughout. Hopefully it’s a first of many.

Track Listing
1. D’kin Riff Uckulous
2. Swimming In Space
3. Countdown
4. Into The Depth
5. Living A Nightmare
6. Lucifer Reveals
7. The Taking
8. Circles
9. Void
10. Phoenix

Added: August 7th 2024
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: JBRI @ bandcamp
Hits: 605
Language: english

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