Jackson Reid Briggs And The Heaters: Hammered

- For a band that focus on just how grubby and basically **** life is, Jackson Reid Briggs And The Heaters sure don’t let it affect their productivity. A case of positive pessimism, perhaps? They really are energetic: with an LP in 2017 and another in 2018, the only reason there wasn’t one in 2019, was because the band were off touring Europe, at least partially in support of their brand new, 2020 LP, Hammered. Positive pessimism, as it happens, is not a bad way of describing the sound of the new record, or, really all of JRB&H’s output. Probably not a bad way of describing a lot of alt-rock in general, to be honest: take depression, add amphetamines and music and shake. This band, undeniably put the recipe through its paces in a way that few can aspire to and on their latest, add some subtle additions to the formula.

JRB&H have always been tight. Back when I listened to 2017’s evocatively titled When Are You Going To Give Up On Me So I Can Give Up On Myself? the rhythm section was so machine-like it created a contrast between their speeding, piston-powered blows and Jackson’s unhinged, slobbery vocal delivery. Come 2020 and the sound’s a bit different, like it’s more nuanced? As though everyone has taken note of Jackson’s weaving, drunken lead and worked just a little bit more of that into their furious approach.

The crew themselves are different too. For a band so dedicated to utterly smashing rhythm, I guess the most significant member to point out is Shauna Boyle on the drums, who must be extraordinarily busy, splitting her time between this energetic workout and her other, very active band, Cable Ties. She’s no place-holder here, having worked on the last couple of albums and that Euro tour as well. The volume of guitar fire-power is slightly more than it once was too, with contributions from Ricky Tervid as well as old Nikko bandmate from the Brisbane days, Ryan Potter. JRB&H have always staked their claim to being something more than an archetypal pub-punk with their infusion of distinctly post-punk instruments and those affectations are back in force here, with occasional lashings of sax and synthesiser as well as what I think is the full time inclusion of organ somewhere in the bowels of the band’s roaring sound; it can be a little hard to make it out through the thick fuzz. When you hear it, like semi-title-track Hammer, the whole feel is teleported to somewhere quite different, with echoes of The Cramps, or a highly deranged cousin of The B52’s.

There’s another change in the sound which can’t really be put down to interesting instrumental choices. Much of Hammered is slower than you’d expect from the band’s previous form. That isn’t to say that it’s more lethargic. Rather than galloping in a particular direction, the guitars fold out and fill the space they’re in. It’s definitely a maximalist aesthetic and one that has psychedelic overtones. I’m not sure exactly how to describe it, but if you were to split the difference between a ‘60’s band like Blue Öyster Cult and a shoegaze outfit like Ride you might get close.

Jackson himself matches the volume of noise by becoming the most over-the-top he’s ever been. Much of the proper lyrical content is concentrated in his yelps and screams, at the beginning of songs and the words are slashed and mutilated till just about unintelligible. The first thing you may be able to decipher is a song title like “Hide Away, Hide Away, Hide Away” or “I”m Useless, I’m Uselss, I’m used to it.” Repeated over and again like blows from a blunt object.

JRB&H have always been a band that has a deceptively strong understanding of their own sound. It’s wild and deranged, but there’s a scary intelligence, lurking behind the madness and it’s aware of every bit of the history that led us to where we are. As such, Hammered, though even more crushingly wrecked than in the past, is a subtle and astute development on what’s come before. Do you need more unexpectedly clever, crushing noise in your life? This is where to get it.

- Chris Cobcroft.
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