Some of the world’s most amazing music has been made solely with an acoustic guitar. That rustic edge then intertwined with the power of an electric guitar can take country music to the final frontier. The seven piece Brisbanites The Family Jordan have taken the roots of country music and have exploited the passion that exudes from simple vocals, and the serenity of an acoustic guitar and created a cosmic country sound intertwined with rock and roll.
Rich in sound and feeling, The Family Jordan have gifted new album Holy Smokes, a testament to incredible skill, creativity and acoustic possibilities.
Describing themselves as “new in the way you feel when the last mosquito has been squashed or new like a toothbrush,” The Family Jordan are bringing forward their second album Holy Smokes, oozing with refreshing ease. This album is raw, exposed, complete with un-synthesized rock ballads that pull your attention from menacing rock music to the solemn vocals and simple instruments.
Recorded half at the Music Farm in Byron Bay and the other half at The Shed in Brisbane, the album incorporates that freedom and relaxing tension that Byron Bay is renowned for, while mixing in that bustling but composed Brisbane way. The final product: a smartly executed, loose flowing sounding, easy listening, tight album, that you could chuck on, to wisp around on a winters night while relaxing around a fire.
The music is created in a way that you could listen to the whole album and not even realize it has finished. The first three songs of the album, Red Moon, It Won’t Be Long and Spirit Guide, all meld into one melodic tune, focusing on the light strumming of that acoustic guitar with slight inputs of electric guitar, to give the songs some body of rock. When you reach Faceless Man, you get a sense of the band’s true intent of creating an alt-country, psychedelic rock vibe.
A welcome changed from the serenity, Faceless Man is speedy and has an attractive rhythm created by a constant strumming of the electric guitar, incorporating the country technique of speaking rather than singing in sections of the song. This song really reflects those Byron Bay and Brisbane characteristics. It’s loose, it’s fun, but the instruments are tight and bustling.
Holy Smokes is a mixture of all the sounds you expect from a country rock album. There is downtime, there is party time and there is time to love. One bundle of everything you intend to pull from music is right here. “Sown in the quilt of traditional song writing and lyricism, Holy Smokes is destined to fill the void between the singer songwriter and the vivid landscape of modern music.”
