You guys split up in 2007. Have you missed being involved in Jesse James?

RICH: I’ve missed the other guys in the band, and sometimes I miss the crazy situations that arise in a touring circus, but I definitely don’t miss having no money, driving crap vans up and down the M1, chuckle-brothering speaker cabinets up tight staircases and generally being in a bit of a state all the time.
DKO: Jesse James worked very hard, we exhausted ourselves and to an extent we felt under siege from certain quarters so that was the downside and nobody missed that. But we had some great times and played some great shows and if you can separate the drudge and the stress from actually playing the music there’s a lot of good memories there. Playing live is great, you do miss walking onto a stage in front of an audience, same with recording but not so much the rest of it.

What led to you deciding to reform?

DKO: We’d had a fair few offers in the past but it was always too soon. Slam Dunk asked and offered a fair fee, the timing was right and we all thought it’d be fun, and it was.
RICH: I wanted to drive up and down the M1, carry heavy equipment up tight staircases and get in a bit of a state.

You played Slam Dunk last month – how did that go?

DKO: It was good fun, we played better than we expected to I think! And the lighting highlighted our greying hair nicely.
RICH: It was fucking great. We played well, we got on well, and we had a heart-warmingly appreciative audience at each venue. After being away from the scene for seven years. it was amazing to see and hear people singing along to the songs.

Will your Punktastic/Big Cheese show in London be your only headline date?

RICH: It will most definitely be our only headline date.
DKO: Yes. There will be no other UK shows at all.

Where will you go from here? Is this really a one off or do you intend to reform properly?

DKO: We’re also playing Mighty Sounds festival in Czechoslovakia, but there are absolutely no plans for more shows after that. Having said that, the right offer for the right festival might get results.
RICH: I could see us doing more festivals if the offers and the timings are right. Reforming properly is a bit of a non-starter as the inevitable reality is a lot of us are married with kids now. Plus I’m not sure my vital organs can take the extended punishment of touring in a punk band any more.

Is there any chance we’ll hear any new material from you?

DKO: Personally, I think I’ve said all I have to say lyrically. Writing was always cathartic so I’m not at all sure I have anything more to write. Over to Rich…
RICH: I’d put a cheeky fiver on it, but some of us are keener than others on the idea.

LAIS MW

Following their return at Slam Dunk Festival late last month, we are pleased to join together with Big Cheese Magazine and Tidal Concerts to present Jesse James at London’s intimate Borderline. Support on the 5th July 2014 will come from Norfolk punks Vanilla Pod.

Formed back in 2000, Jesse James stormed the UK underground with their debut album, 200 live shows and a subsequent recording of their follow-up with Fat Mike from NOFX. The band parted ways in 2007 before reforming earlier this year.

The show at the Borderline will be the band’s only headline show.

For full details head to the official Facebook event page. Tickets are available now.

But it was BUZZTONE who set the standards for the evening with arguably the best set of the day/night. The Swindon lads made the 450-mile round trip without any complaints and blasted any hangover cobwebs clean away with a fast and furious set of ferocious skate punk anthems. Vocalist Si has a near perfect vocal and this is ably complemented by hard hitting drumming. Coming across like Slick Shoes and Strung Out in a play-fight, they maintain their riotous brand of skate punk without losing any of the melodies. Every song appears to be sub-two minutes and the Guns n Roses cover is a highlight, despite a few wonky notes at the outset. Buzztone are in the Phinius Gage mould of rugged melodic punk rock and while currently unsigned, on the basis of this set, they will have plenty of new suitors waiting for a signature soon. (8.5)

Local heroes SAVING LENNIE are up next but they’re a massive disappointment and the worst band on the bill tonight. With a female singer with a voice that is decent at best, the band’s problem is that they look scared stiff up on stage. There’s no movement and the songs themselves are third-rate generic Save Ferris-esque ska punk. On the bright side they are only youngsters and will surely improve, but on a bill like this they are way, way out of their depth. (4)

Due to a slight oversight (ie i misread the times) both MILK2SUGARS and THE AGENCY were missed which rather defeated the object of attending the gig, but there we go. Still, my four cheese pizza more than made up for it! Peterborough’s $UP are coming on leaps and bounds and are certainly on the verge of something special. Signed to 20 Deck Records, the band play a unique mix of skacore with blends Capdown, Mad Caddies and NoComply into one big melting pot and comes out with a full throttle mix that doesn’t relent for the duration of the entire set. Singer Shaun is easily a star in the making and the sheer energy given off makes it tiring to watch. But what the band have visually isn’t quite matched sonically. For all their effort and appeal, $up lack songs. ‘Critix’ is an absolute monster of a track but the rest tend to just merge into one another. It’s at times predictable fare, fast hardcore part follows skankable chorus follows fast hardcore part – and in short bursts it’s great stuff. But over 30 minutes and ten songs you feel like you’ve heard some of it before. There’s no doubting $up are going to be huge in the next 18 months, but I feel their growth is being stunted by a lack of quality in their writing. (7.5)

CAPTAIN EVERYTHING also disappoint which surprised me. Having seen them before when they were full of beans and on top form, the trio are highly amusing and play their breakneck pop-punk tracks as well as anyone. But tonight they are upstaged easily by Buzztone and look tired and bored. Their new album is an absolute cracker and a few tracks go down a treat tonight, but it all seems a little lost on a few of the younger fans who have come to skank the night away. C*E are a great band and HHN have themselves a corking band, but tonight there’s something wrong in the camp and I’m left a little disappointed. (7)

I never actually thought I’d say this, but JESSE JAMES were actually ok. That was only an ok and not a good, but I will put my hands up and say that on the basis of this performance, JJ are far better in smaller venues. Having seen them supporting Lit and Bowling For Soup I’ve been bored rigid by the band, but tonight they did manage to hold my attention for half a dozen songs before we went home. A smattering of new songs are played alongside some old favourites, and by and large the kids love it, dancing away merrily to their heart’s content. Most of them are probably unawares of the ‘politics’ that surround the band in light of their recent spat with King Prawn, although there are a few hecklers at the back who don’t appreciate their music. Still, like Whitmore, there are plenty of people who love them and plenty who are haters and it takes guts to get onstage every night and answer your critics. I wasn’t won over by any means, but maybe my foot did tap once or twice…(7)

Paul

Anyway, on with the show as they say. Myself and my buddy Ste came armed with three more tickets than we had bodies, and so ended up getting shafted by the touts outside, shifting all three for just £7. Still, a sold-out show of 2,100 people makes this gig the biggest of the whole tour. We arrive in the venue to catch my buddies in Uncle Brian hit the stage, dressed impeccably in a matching white shirt/black tie combo. But that is definitely where the comparisons to The Hives end. Coming across like any good pop-punk/ska band should do, my favourite Uncles hog the big stage like they were born to play the larger shows. With vocalists Dan and Ben trading jokes with the crowd and drummer John complete in Spiderman attire, the kids time and time again go off to a mix of old and new tracks. Their cover of ‘We’re Going To Ibiza’ goes down better than ever and the new songs show enough promise to prove that Uncle Brian are certainly back with a bang and are well worthy of your attention if they come near your town. On the downside the vocals were quite low in the mix and drummer John admitted that the monitors were ‘a bit shit’, but hey, you sounded good guys… (7)

I don’t really care for Jesse James. Recently signed to Golf Records (alongside another 4562835 UK bands who signed for the label at the same time), only ‘Shoes’ is a song that stands out among an average set of tunes that I feel the band possess. I saw them supporting Lit earlier in the year and was not impressed at all, and tonight the band are equally dull. There’s nothing new or interesting on offer and what Jesse James do, they do without much flair. It certainly does not grab my attention at all, so I spend my time laughing at Uncles John and Dan get mugged by the aforementioned 12-year-old girls. Dan is even asked to sign somebody’s birth certificate! Their new found fame is completely deserved and they prove so popular that they don’t have any t-shirts left in large at all… But wait, isn’t this supposed to be a Jesse James review? Yep…sorry I got bored of speaking about them…(5)

You don’t go to a Bowling For Soup show to see the most technical of pop-punk bands. You go to be entertained, and boy, do BFS put on a fantastic live show. The songs are either fantastic (see ‘Suckerpunch’ as a fine example) or rather dull and generic, but for a band that haven’t really been in the limelight all that long they have perfected the art of having fun and getting the crowd all hot and bothered. Songs like new single ‘Emily’ and ‘Surf Colorado’ start mayhem in the pit, and ‘Suckerpunch’ and ‘Out The Window’ are fantastic slices of pop-punk perfection. Chris and Erik are the perfect foil for lead singer Jaret, who admittedly does sound fantastic tonight, dispelling any myths that the band are far from perfect in the live department. The humour flows all night, especially of the toilet variety, and numerous references to having sex with mums is mentioned – but then would you really expect anything different from this lot? A pop medley, featuring the likes of Avril Lavigne, Nelly, Shaggy, Eminem and Nelly Furtado is a masterstroke and the cover of the Ramones anthem ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ is fantastic, even if it probably does go above the heads of many of the younger members of the audience. Winding up with ‘Running From Your Dad’ and the anthemic ‘Bitch Song’, the kids maintain their energy, copying the bands on-stage presence and making for one sweaty night. The presence of a couple of ‘young’ girls demonstrating their breasts was also enjoyed by the band and pre-pubescent boys alike, but c’mon, underage girls are wrong… Last single ‘Girl All The Bad Guys Want’ goes down as you would expect it to and the night ends with a rampant version of the Bryan Adams tune ‘Summer Of ’69’. (8)

Bowling For Soup will never be the greatest band on Planet Punk, but what they lack in quality songs, they make up for in entertainment. Their newest album may well be no more than average, but their live show is well worth checking out – if only for Jaret’s comical Avril Lavigne and Shaggy impressions. How far the band go in this country depends on how well they maintain this momentum that they have built up. I suspect that in a years time BFS may well be old news – but let’s enjoy it now while its here. Hop aboard and enjoy the BFS ride.

Paul