Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Imagine a mixture of psychedelia, alternative rock and pop and you get close to the ingredients but miles away from actually being able to describe the eclectic sound of this innovative band. The brilliantly named Not The Joneses (NTJ) have created a fresh sounding debut which highlights Mark Chaffee's excellent songwriting and compelling lyrics. From the pounding Spin Doctors' style of "J Lite" or "One Time Woman" with its advice to resist temptations of a fleshly kind, and the aggressive "Tantalise" where that theme is continued and wrapped around a warp factor nine gritty guitar solo, NTJ can boogie with the best of them. Yet Chaffee proves that he can be a sensitive old soul too, "For The Cross" has a rootsy VOL feel to it and poignant lyrics. Best song though is the cleverness of "God Is Dead" with the whole Nitchze deal being effectively lampooned. The single "Ashes To Ashes" is strong on melody and Mark Chaffee's voice occasionally sounds like Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley- weird eh! "Anastasia" and "I Love You Anyway" have elements of jangly pop, the latter proving to be a burst of fun! Country punk anybody? A disconcertingly good debut from a bunch of guys who are probably wild live in concert! Wonder if we'll ever find out for sure?

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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