JPC (NZ) - Right By You

Hear The Track Here

It's always nice to kick off a New Year with a good start and, over the years, New Zealand rock musician John Paul Carroll has managed that a time or two, but nowhere near as powerful and focused as on Dig Up, Stupid (January 2010), his first Must Have for a while I think... Or is that first Must Have for this name because I could swear he pocketed a few when he was known as Fluidity (aaaahhhhhh). Looking back over the reviews I have done of him lately, beside Dig Up, It seems now like the tracks were gathering pace, getting better with each new progression. That's the beauty, I find, of really knowing an artist. Sure you still get blown onto your fat pompous ass every once in a while, but at least you know its coming...

..every little crumb of comfort....k?

I must say the things I first liked about this guys musical style are the same things I respect him for these days. Here is a musician who has always trodden his own path, making his own particular shade of rock. Being a long term fan of the Antipodean rock music scene, which has a very specific sound to my ears, probably enabled me to get into what JPC was doing back in the day, and he's updated it regularly but all of the essential ingredients are present. A bone-crunching guitar, drums that explode right in your face and a long, convoluted tale of some woe or other most of which you won't understand a word of. Mind you, if you like a good rock song, delivered with blinding style then words will seem inconsequential.

John Paul has one of those voices that slur things together, and when you have a slamming rock track vigorously kicking your head off, it's difficult to make out the meaning of the song. One of JPC's main strengths is that he is a songwriter who generally has meaning and content in his lyrics so obviously it's important to get this bit over too. Happily, he always posts the lyrics anyway, and I find it always helps to - I don't know - sharpen the musical vision. Damn does my pretension look big in this? Anyway, that's how it works for me, and I've found down the years it works for me and this musician too. So to rock, or not to rock, you decide.

Highly Recommended Heavy Rock.