Jesus Jones: Some Of The Answers

Jan 26, 2024

Jesus Jones: Some Of The Answers

Demon Records

Boxset 15cd

Out Now

Some Of The Answers is an almost complete documentation of the lives and music of Jesus Jones, a band that sprung out of nowhere with their debut Liquidizer, became a very big deal in the US with its follow-up Doubt and is still making music to this date. Across thirteen discs their six albums are accompanied by an array of bonus tracks and remixes.

Jesus Jones are often maligned unfairly. The success of their second album Doubt put the cool kids, well adults, of the music press against them. As Right Here Right Now captured the mood of a world in change with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Jesus Jones were thrust into the spotlight. And then turned on unfairly. Some Of The Answers sets to put that record straight.

Formed in 1988, Jesus Jones were part of a movement that also included The Shamen, EMF and Pop Will Eat Itself. Fusing indie rock with more dance beats and hip-hop styles, they were picked up by the EMI subsidiary Food. Subsequently, they released their debut Liquidizer in 1989. Well-received by the press, it featured lead single Info Freako, an indie disco staple as well as Bring It On Down and Never Enough.

Its follow-up Doubt was the record to break them. In many ways. A more commercial sound featured on its singles. The aforementioned Right Here Right Now, like the album, secured Grammy nominations. The album hit number 1 in the UK and went Platinum in the US. International Bright Young Thing became their first top 10 single. Real Real Real and Who? Where? Why? completed a set of singles that made them chart and Top Of The Pops regulars. But Doubt still contained much of their influences away from the chart-friendly singles. It's an interesting listen thirty years on, feeling like the band being in a tug-of-war.

Like all successful indie bands in the nineties, the backlash was just around the corner. Third album Perverse still reached number six and its lead single The Devil You Know hit the top ten. But there was a movement against them. Britpop was kicking in and Jesus Jones weren't cool enough to hang around The Good Mixer. Grunge exploded and five lads from Wiltshire didn't fit in.

They took four years off to regroup before coming back with the excellent Already. Its lead single The Next Big Thing wasn't though and failed to hit the Top 40. Its follow-up Chemical #1 fared even worse. They parted ways with EMI and it looked like they might have run their course.

For the less au fait with Jesus Jones, their fifth album London might surprise. Released with indie label Mi5, it sounds like a band making music for the love of it rather than with commercial pressures weighing heavy. In another day and age, it would have been their final piece of work.

Reunions, reformations are now the norm though. They released their last album Passages via Pledge Music just before its demise. They followed it with Voyages, a companion album of works-in-progress.

Some Of The Answers is the centrepiece of a reissue series that also includes colour vinyl pressings of all six albums. Across fifteen CDs it covers most, but not all, of their recorded output. Voyages is missing as is their Live EP that followed Liquidizer. However, pretty much everything else is here.

There's insights into their writing process with b-sides and demos from their first four albums. There's also two great covers – Crazyhead's I Don't Want That Kind Of Love and Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. It's telling that the first four albums cover thirteen of the fifteen discs. London and Passages have just a disc each.

Like most bands in the 1990s, Jesus Jones, or their label, engaged in multi-formatting and that meant lots of extra material. There are thirteen versions of Real Real Real and half a dozen or so of most singles off Liquidizer and Doubt. Some work well, some feel like filler.

The boxset comes in a hefty 12 inch box and is accompanied by a booklet. Ian Baker tells the story of each album and the insight helps paint a picture of the band's creative process and their world as the albums were written and recorded. It's fascinating context about the band's progression and state of mind.

There are two choices for a fan with this slew of Jesus Jones reissues. Either take this warts-and-all everything together set or invest in the six vinyl reissues and greatest hits vinyl. Both are a significant outlay and not for a casual fan given the three figure price tag, but there's plenty here to discover. Going back and listening through it's a reminder that they produced some great tracks and were wrongly dismissed by a fickle media.

Jesus Jones’ website is here and they are on Facebook and Twitter.

All words by David Brown, you can find his author profile here.

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