JPC (NZ) - Dead Letter Chain

Hear The Track Here

Had to reprint this: 'Listening to JPC isn't as exhilarating as hunting dolphins, or as captivating as watching the sun set behind mounds of rubbish at the land fill. JPC isn't everything you want in a razor...' Despite the Dan Brown code of the bandname, regulars will immediately shout 'Fluidity!' so any newbies hanging about shouldn't worry overly much about getting sprayed with unpleasant things, they just recognise an old friend. I encountered John Paul Carroll, who lives in New Zealand (get it now?, yay isn't code wonderful?) in his new guise when I reviewed the excellent Shepherd (June 2009), a welcome return from someone who was never off the Soundclick boards at one time.

Anyone who came across the rock flavours of the artist known as Fluidity will recognise this track from almost the first note. Although he's had his ups and downs, the one thing that could never be said about John Paul is that he doesn't have his own style. Perfected, I might add, over several years, most of them on Soundclick and most of them reviewed by me - well worth checking out. So, Dead Letter Chain? What is? (Ed: hopefully not another of your dismal Dan Brown riffs) Unfortunately there isn't a lot on the subject and JP, despite being a terrific songwriter, isn't the most straightforward lyricist.

He's an absolutely rock solid musician though, as well as being one of those vocalists whose voice actually matches his music. That might even be why he has such a recognisable sound. I've compared him musically to a lot of rock influences in the past but with Shepherd and now this track he's showing some depths he's never explored before. I found this a lot to take in and only continued playing really brought it into sharp focus, and I am used to this artist. Complex rock structure and sound, with some absolutely knockout progressions that show just how detailed this musician has become. Give this a bit of time to work its magic on you and you won't regret giving it the precious minutes...

Highly Recommended (original for sure) Rock.