CDHW 044
LP, EP
Germany, 1997
 
 
Media: VG+
Sleeve: VG+
 
All pre-owned vinyl is professionally cleaned with a Project VC-E record cleaner before shipping
 
 
In a world chock full of flame-outs, coulda-been contenders and great white hopes, the band Jonathan Fire*Eater are among the “almost-est.” Widely praised as the mid-Nineties next-big-thing, they are largely credited with being the earliest purveyors of the “New York City Rock and Roll Revival” circa 2001. Which would be great, if only the band hadn’t imploded by 1998.
The quintet employed a fresh, one-of-a-kind blend of sly rock and roll reference and reverence. Their press release at the time name-dropped all the correct and relevant influences...the Stooges, the Modern Lovers, Tom Waits, the Scientists, ? and the Mysterians, the Cramps, Nation of Ulysses, the Stones, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds...all markers conveying the point that Fire-Eater’s dark, brooding overtones are complemented by springy Farfisa tones and impressionistic, evocative lyrics.
The band was inarguably in top form with the 1996 EP release of Tremble Under Boom Lights. Mean and lean at only five tracks, those songs click together perfectly, enough so to kick-start a major label bidding frenzy which found the band signing a lucrative, seven-figure contract. Showcasing lead singer Stewart Lupton’s redolent exercises in picturesque poetry, coupled with Matt Barrick’s inimitable percussive attack, Paul Maroon’s wide, unadorned guitar blistering throughout while Walter Martin’s choice, deliberate organ accompaniment and Tom Frank’s propulsive, bottom-heavy bass all join together for a full, beautiful, glorious masterpiece.
Lead-off track “The Search For Cherry Red” would not only provide the EP with a title via its lyrics, but would also see a second life as covered by esteemed rock-and-rollers The Kills. “Give Me Daughters” is enviable for the perspective it foresees, when taking into consideration its narrator was barely 21 years old at the time. Songs flit about cockfights, open caskets, ballroom gowns, switchblades, motorcycle accidents and jewel thieves all to propel the record into a world of juvenile delinquent attitude and vivid cinematic color.
 
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