JERRY JOSEPH AND THE JACKMORMONS
"Conscious Contact" Terminus
by Mike Joyce
Every recording artist is a "survivor" these days. Bounce back from a 10 percent decline in record sales and you're on the list. Rock vet Jerry Joseph is the real deal, however, having encountered more than his share of nightmares over the past 20 years. Drug abuse, band breakups, record deals that never amounted to anything -- someone should turn his bio into a song and have George Jones record it.
Joseph has also seen a lot of kindred spirits and fellow travelers, including Widespread Panic and Phish, go on to great success. That level of popularity probably isn't in the cards for Joseph and the Jackmormons, yet "Conscious Contact" certainly has enough brash, brooding and sometimes surprisingly melodic music to help spread the word.
Sounding occasionally like John Mellencamp's older, wiser and psychologically mixed-up sibling, Joseph writes complex, image-laden songs and infuses them with plenty of attitude, soulfulness and swagger. "The Kind of Place," a Mellencamp-like small-town scenario, is a psychodrama masquerading as a routine rock anthem, while "Ten Killer Fairies," a tale of Mexican murder and drug lords, and "Your Glass Eye," a touching piano elegy for a friend, are the album's best illustrations of Joseph's cunning and range.
The Jackmormons -- bassist Junior Rappel and drummer Brad Rosen -- alternately kick and glide the music along, and more often than not the trio gets a colorful assist from an array of guests that includes organist Chuck Leavell and Randall Bramblett, vocalist Vic Chesnutt and late Widespread Panic guitarist Mike Houser.
