As soon as I heard that this was happening I thought that it could well be one of those convergences which would prove irresistible. Long-standing psych cult band The Janitors together with the winning Fuzz Club Session format sounded to me like a match made in a dark distortion heaven.
Was I right?
Well I wasn’t wrong.
The Janitors have been on my radar for some time now, and you can click here for my previous writings about them, with their album ‘Drone Head’ being one of my first full reviews. Since then they have brought out a series of recordings that I have always enjoyed… their ‘Evil Doings of an Evil Kind‘ being a high point for me… a political polemic which has sadly proved to be accurate. It was around then that I also saw them live at the Liverpool PsychFest… they were the first act of a night that I have frequently described as the best night of live music of my life!
The Fuzz Club Sessions have become a bit of an institution in the short time that they have been going. They are extremely well produced and recorded on analogue equipment to a very high standard, which means that the sound on them is second to none. My highlights thus far have been those by ‘10000 Russos‘ and ‘The Myrrors‘ both of whom took the opportunity to re-imagine tracks from different releases, providing a really unique document for fans.
This session by The Janitors is no different. Comprising four tracks, the band have taken a well balanced set list which showcases both their heavy immediacy and drawn out innovation.
‘Here They come’ from ‘Evil Doings of an Evil Kind‘ seems even more edgy and angry. The excellence of the recording adds a sharper attack to the proceedings, while the ongoing rise of the far right give the track even more of a terrifying immediacy.
After that comes ‘Trojan Ghost’, which was the opening, and my favourite, track on The Janitors’ most recent album ‘Horn Ur Marken‘. This too is given a new vibrancy here… a real live feel that enhances the track for me and enables me to appreciate it in a different way from the album version.
The final two numbers both come from the compilation of recordings that ended up as ‘Drone Head’. ‘Do It Again’ is, for me, one of the stand out tracks of that album, and it is great to see it reprised here. Again the band seem to breath new life into it.
Last up is ‘A-Bow’ which, at over sixteen minutes, takes up the whole of side two of this set. A superbly elongated riff this really does take you out of yourself and let you just zone. Initially a much slower track it really inveigles its way into your brain and takes residence there as it becomes more and more intense. Excellent stuff!
All in all this yet another brilliant Fuzz Club Session, recorded by a band clearly on the top of their game. All four tracks here are re-imagined really well and you really feel as if you are hearing them all in a new and fresh way.
-o0o-
Available now from Fuzz Club Records here.
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