Jett Black Reviews

Reviewed by Nick Spacek

The Lawrencian January 2006

  God, this is refreshing, hard-driving rock ‘n’ roll. To Hell and Back is powerful enough that you don’t notice the speedometer is creeping closer and closer to 80 miles per hour as you drive down the highway with this album blasting out your stereo.

  Jett Black, from Denver, is one of the best musical discoveries I’ve made since I found out about the Burden Brothers several years back. And much like the Burden Brothers, Jett Black does a great job of mixing rock with a little country twang and rockabillyswagger.

  What’s great about this disc is that the band shows different genre elements in each of its songs. Rather than focusing on trying to fit in some Jimbo bass, Eddie Spaghetti guitar, and DJ Fontana drumming on every song, Jett Black plays up a different style in each one. The title track is basic, balls-to-the-wall hard rock, but “Still the One” is Reverend Horton Heat jumped-up rockabilly while “Signals” is a slow dance number.

  Granted, for all the stylistic touches, this is pretty much a genre record. If you’re not into the whole Supersuckers / Reverend Horton Heat / Throw Rag greaser-rock mentality, this is going to be pretty paint-by-numbers to you. For fans of the style, however, this is well played, energetic music with the heart of a rock and roll band.

Westword Critic's Choice

Published: Thursday, 8-18, 2005

By Dave Herrera

The title of Jett Black's latest disc, To Hell and Back, might as well be a direct reference to frontman Jeff Arnold's life over the nine months. The last time we heard from Arnold (aka Jett Black) this past January, he had just watched his club, the Velvet Underground, which occupied the subterranean space at 1624 Market Street (the former home of the Blue Mule and its predecessor, Brendan's Blues Pub), go dark after being open for less than three months. It marked the end of a particularly dour period for Black and his mates that began with the act's drummer, Tony Young -- who handles security for Hizzoner Hick during the work week -- suffering a severe heart attack in the middle of Wyoming during a short tour with King Rat.

Young made a full recovery in a matter of weeks, and the group has since undergone a massive overhaul, having mostly ditched the rockabilly-inflected sound that dominated its debut, 2004's What This Record Needs…Is More Cowbell, in favor of jagged, brawny rawk that resembles Velvet Revolver mated with the Reverend Horton Heat. Additionally, Tyfoid Mary's Igor Panasewicz is now handling the low end, while Bart McCrorey wields the lead ax. Catch Jett Black this Friday, August 19, when the reconfigured unit celebrates the release of Hell at Bender's Tavern, with Mo Trucker, Jim Yelenick (Jet Black Joy) and Black Lamb. (The $7 cover includes admission and a copy of the disc.) Black is back -- and don'tcha know, he's glad to be back.

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