The Damn Jammage – Well Hanged EP review
The Damn Jammage have only been on the scene since 2010, having seemingly burst out of North London fully-formed and slightly insane, with huge infusions of Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Considering that those are two of my favourite artists, I figured that I’d give these guys a spin.
No Rest For The Crooked’s heavy tom-based intro sounds like The Birthday Party mixed with the growl of Tom Wait’s, a mix of the weird cabaret that both these artists have experimented with and embraced. The Eastern-European beat drives this song completely, pushing it forward and creating an instantly catchy rhythm, mixing with lyrics seemingly taken straight from Nick Cave’s notebook, with such lines as ‘blood flows like the Panama/Welcome to the abattoir!’. The guitar manages to fuse rockabilly in it’s solo, as the singer mumbles insanely in the background. The violin, very quiet in the mix, counterpoints the harsh vocals and the booming drums, creating a full, lush sound. This is a powerful opener, it grabs your attention and shows off the band’s skills, containing a guitar and piano solo, impressive vocal delivery and sudden changes in tempo. It’s a perfect introduction to this band’s sound, with it’s mix of cabaret, country and rockabilly. It’s also infectiously danceable.
Black & Blue is a seven minute journey through a strange and twisted relationship. It’s soundscape is lush and emotive. The counterpoint of the smooth, feminine
vocals with the harsh voice of Danny Rapscallion is very moving. The simple, stark lyrics are powerful here, ‘each time we fight it’s black and white/My love for you’s been black and blue’, bringing home the emotion. The gypsy-esque outro is powerful, with wailing violin and pounding drum. It brings to mind Dylan’s Desire, who also featured gypsy-sounding violin and melody. However, I found the break in to a high-tempo dance (right after the chorus), which stops just as abruptly, slightly disconcerting. It’s entirely possible that that’s what The Damn Jammage are looking for, this snap out of the story of this troubled relationship, but it annoys me. I was very much enjoying the track, and I found it slightly redundant in the general song. It is, however, the centre-piece of the EP. It’s epic, sprawling and touching. It shows the band’s range, from soft, emotive sound to loud, epic noise. And more importantly, throughout it’s seven minutes it never gets boring.
Stockpiling Poison is a strange story of paranoia and illicit love, and seems to be set in World War I or II. Its muted organ and subdued guitar and violin allow the singer to spin a story through imagery and rhyme. Its intro is compelling and strange. The swaying folk vibe works perfectly, its soundscape is vast, rain and thunder sounding, pounding against the trenches and the mud. The break in to the cabaret-jig is perhaps slightly obvious by this point in the EP, but it doesn’t really detract from the song. However, I’ve got to say, out of all the tracks on the EP this one dragged for me. When the jig breaks in I started losing interest. It’s not that it’s a bad song, but I feel like I’ve heard it before, and not just from The Damn Jammage. It reminded me of Tom Waits far too much. Its outro seemed slightly long and pointless, and the constant change in tempo and feeling seemed a bit cluttered and confusing. It was certainly my least favourite song on this EP.
(Show Me) Lonely Lost Love is as sickly funny tune. It is a brilliant ending track, an infectiously dark country jig through the story of a wonderfully insane love affair. ‘You’re driving me crazy!’ the singers gleefully proclaim together at one point. Apparently, it was love at first sight – ‘you quizzically stared back most perplexed/ and said take this here shotgun lets go get my ex!’. I love this track, it’s hilarious and crazy. The wonderful touches, the whistles and the tiny drops, the handclaps, the country jig. Especially the brass section. It’s a brilliant, low-key and amusing ending to this EP. It’s the perfect drunk sing along, and shows another side to this versatile band. It’s a break from the heavy sounds that permeated the EP, and it’s seriously joyful, in 3/4 time. Even though you feel like it shouldn’t be.
Do I like Well Hanged? Yes, I do. This EP is powerful. It moves and thrashes and twists through these four tracks. The Damn Jammage continually have one foot in cabaret, treading such ground as The Tiger Lillies and Tom Waits, and one foot in the country tradition of Johnny Cash and Dylan’s ‘Nashville Skyline’. The growls and drunken shouts of Danny Rapscallion’s vocals are delightfully juxtaposed with the sweet, light voice of Jasmine Daniels, and the band can rock n’ roll with the best of them. However my only issue with this EP is, throughout the duration of it, I had the overwhelming urge to listen to, in it’s 21 minute duration, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and The Pogues. This is no bad thing, to remind people of such amazing artists and to draw influence from them. However, it’s not good to want to listen to them instead. This is hardly the bands fault. It just creates a nagging at the back of my mind that can’t let me enjoy the music to it’s absolute fullest. If I was at my meanest, I’d say if I wanted to listen to Tom Waits, I’d have listened to Tom Waits. Still, this is hardly a complaint, and it’s only personal. This band has a great sound, and an energy to them that’s very rare. They must be one hell of a live act. I’m very excited to hear what a fully-fledged album of theirs would sound like.
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