Jennyanykind
I Need You
Big Johns/Yep Roc
This time out, the brothers Holland keep it in the family, handling all instrumental and vocal duties themselves. Not to slight previous bassists and other contributors, but Mark and Michael Holland can more than hold their own on just about any instrument they choose. I Need You provides a dozen refinements of Jennyanykind’s unique melodic blues psychedelia, a sophisticated sound that seems to borrow and adapt from the music of the last hundred years. “Young Boy Blues” is as threatening as a barely-controlled whisper, as a slide guitar and lonesome harmonica weave in and out of verses and between choruses. “Up Early In The Morning” appears to be the Jennyanykind credo, appearing here in two completely different versions to complement the performance on their previous live album. “Acoustic…Ambient” gives us nearly 30 seconds of solid organ chord before fading back to make room for an acoustic guitar chopping out chords and melodies.
Being picked up, sniffed at, and tossed aside by the majors is something that has wrecked many a band, but Jennyanykind have come through the ordeal with the same will to pound out their joyful racket. I Need You can sound like the early British Invasion, like the American Revival, and like the New Blues all at the same time. Without a lot of heavy production, the songs make themselves comfortable in your head and decide to stay a while. And the best thing is that after you discover this one, there’s a hefty back catalog to plunder. Happy hunting!
Yep Roc Records, P.O. Box 4821, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-4821; http://www.redeyeusa.com/yeproc
