The Bumper Jacksons
Album: Too Big World
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 16
Website: http://www.bumperjacksons.com

Prepare yourself!

Washboard, clarinet, baby trombone, guitar, tenor banjo, mouth horn, upright bass, trombone, pedal steel, drums and The Suitcase (more on this shortly). Two things come to mind New Orleans and The Bumper Jacksons.

Heavily influenced by the street sounds, partying and carnival atmosphere of New Orleans mixed in with some jazz, country blues and ragtime and you only just start to experience the colourful sounds and flavours The Bumper Jacksons’ show with their musical amalgamation. Too Big World is the third release following up Sweet Mama, Sweet Daddy, Come In and Big Horn Mama.

Bandleaders Jess Eliot Myhre and Chris Ousley have become acquainted with four other musical gents (Alex Lacquement, Brian Priebe, Dave Hadley and Dan Cohan) for this sixteen track second offering. Jess is from Florida but now all six members of the band are based in Washington DC. Jess takes the influences and musical experiences she gathered from the clubs and streets of New Orleans and joining her on lead vocal duties is Maryland’s Chris who also brings his banjo bluegrass and creative lyrics to the fold.

You get a sense of the fun swing element to a lot of the album from the word go with the opening ‘Coffee Mama’. On track two ‘Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down’ and it’s a change of lead vocalist with Jess (Chris took the lead on the opener) but it’s the harmonising that stands out. There’s so much going on with a whole variety of instruments all creating a soulful jazzy explosion.

If you are unfamiliar with the New Orleans music scene then I suggest you look at the funeral scene from the James Bond movie ‘Live and Let Die’ and that sums it all up for me. Anything can and will happen and they certainly love their music. Despite a lot of the album being about the party atmosphere there are slower offerings like with ‘Delta Bound’. It’s a nice change of direction with lovely clarinet and trumpet adding a bluesy and swing feel to the customary jazz elements.

The Bumper Jacksons certainly got a very effective D.I.Y. side to them and this is none more apparent than with Dan Cohan’s dream homemade instrument The Suitcase. It certainly looks like the must have travel accessory and now, possibly, the must have musical instrument. It’s a combination of drums and percussion and created from different bits ‘n’ bobs like tin cans creating as you would expect another unique sound. ‘Come All You Virginia Girls’ is a much covered warning song telling the girls not to go courting the boys. Jess and the boys harmonise to great effect once again and there’s also a unique ‘winding up’ sound effect throughout. Actually, if I was to pick out all the unusual sounds on these songs then we could be heading for the longest review in Fatea magazine history!

You got something for everyone on this album with a love ballad up next called ‘Adventure Story’ as track five which is also five minutes in length (the longest of the collection). You can hear Jess’s emotive lyrics to the full here and they sound brilliant. Other highlights are ‘Red Silk Stockings’ which has a fabulous steel country feel mixed in with the jazz trombone. This actually reminds me of Chris De Burgh’s ‘Patricia the Stripper’ in both sound and content. Chris leads with Jess partaking in duet parts throughout. ‘Jubilee’ reminds me of duets of years gone by from the likes of June and Johnny Cash and this song certainly has the most country feel to any of the tracks. I cannot ever recall experiencing such a musical cauldron of delights on any other album than this latest offering from what has to currently be one of the grooviest groups coming out of Washington DC.

“I’ll head on down that dirt road my axe in my hand, when I see that bully I’m gonna sweep him from this land” are certainly positive stick up for yourself lyrics in ‘Bully of the Town’. There’s a sudden change of pace and tone on the next track ‘The Dying Californian’ and the mood turns the most sombre and melancholy it has been throughout. The lyrics are sung by Jess and Chris with a lot less instruments for this one. It’s been stripped back to almost an acoustic form.

Some of the sounds, especially that of the trombone remind me of being at the Big Top when the circus are in town but isn’t that what New Orleans is all about? It’s the fun and partying atmosphere blended with laughter and humour. This is definitely what The Bumper Jacksons offer and you don’t have to look any further than some of the lyrics on the final track ‘Hell Is Hot!’ to know what I mean. I could quote the lyrics of the whole song as they are all hugely imaginative but I have chosen “you say you’re straight and sober, a kosher non-smoker, never ever gambled not even strip poker, so come on, take a chance! Take off your pants! Come out a sinning with me!” The theme of this is why one, especially the lead singer Chris, would prefer Hell as opposed to Heaven as he believes there’s a lot more going on down there.

If you fancy a fun party and a good time, if you like an assortment of instruments and sounds, if you like interesting comical lyrics and a few serious ballads then this is certainly for you. It certainly ticks all the right boxes and brings a good few wry smiles along the way.

Craig Parry