Psst, this album's actually not that bad. Don't let on that I actually said that, cos, y'know it's not cool to like Jesse James any more, but this album's good. OK, sarcasm over, but the original statement stands. Despite my pretty well-documented opinions of Jesse James' old records, I'll hold my hands up and state that 'Mission', while not winning me over, has altered my opinion. Gone are the boring, repetitive and none-too-impressive days of old when I was young and impressionable and JJ were younger and, well, probably not impressionable at all, but you get the picture. I'm rambling - I think it's shock.
So yeah, 'Mission' is surprisingly good. I didn't have too many expectations but I was plesantly surprised. Recorded by Ryan Greene (yep, the Fat Wreck uber-producer) the sound is clearly a million times better than their previous records, but I guess with Greene you get what you pay for. Perhaps the sunny San Francisco cliamte helped too, for there's definitely a healthy feel to the album - the horns are in the right places and the upbeat tracks work well. Remember JJ aren't ska and they've distanced themselves from the soul parts too a bit, so they've become increasingly difficult to pigeonhole.
Still, tracks like 'Hills vs Mountains' and 'First Day On A Brand New Planet' are actually very good, even if I want to scream "Sue Lawley" at the top of my voice on the latter during the chorus (ask your Dad if you don't get it kids...) And so we carry on as 'Growin' Up' and 'Don't Stop Now' kick and snarl while 'Fucked Up Little Kid' isn't the baby brother of that Mest song thankfully, but makes its presence felt regardless. If there's one criticism the album does sound a little samey on repeated listens and some of the songs come acros as filler rather than killer, but it's a minor grumble.
While I've been pretty scathing at times (perhaps naively) in the past regarding DKO and company I'll hold my hands up and eat a mesh cap and admit this is a sterling release. It's still not really my thing, but you have to admire the craft that has gone into it and there's no doubt that Ryan Greene has given them a leg up. Still, from what I've heard it's Jesse James' best release yet and so you're probably best listening rather than missing out...
www.jessejames.co.uk
Golf Records
Paul
