Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun - Feb 10th, The Louisiana

"We are literally living our dream at the moment" is the proud message from Jim Lockey this evening as arguably the South-West's hottest property tear up the sweat-drenched Louisiana after their first headline tour hits Bristol.  The punk-folk Cheltenham quartet are tantalizingly close to breakthrough after recent exposure from Kerrang and Radio 1 as they are soon to depart for a huge US tour supporting The Dropkick Murphys. 

 

Superbly produced and much improved second album 'Death' has propelled the band towards mainstream attention with its appealing mesh of Levellers anarchic folk and heavy nods towards Bright Eyes, Biffy Clyro and head cheerleader label-mate Frank Turner; the group completely casting aside the unfair Mumford wannabe tag.  In frontman Jim Lockey there’s a voice which initially isn’t easy to fall in love with; gut-wrenchingly passionate, sometimes too much and if you’re being overly critical, like A N Other emo American group.  It’s only after the first couple of tracks and the triumphant ‘Songs About Death’ it becomes obvious that it works perfectly with the band’s sound and lyrical themes.  Chris Capewell’s flawless, fizzing guitar work steers the sound away from flat folk into angular rock whilst Philip Randall impishly hops around the stage in the mould of RHCP nutjob Flea delivering some brutal bass. 

The hardcore punk rock influences are clear not only in their love for banging choruses but also in their appearance on stage; clearly able to fit in well with the Kerrang crowd but also crossing into the adult rock arena with the anthemic blue collar sincerity of The Gaslight Anthem and more locally, Billy Bragg.  Although its not the 25 million audience they played to at the Olympic opening ceremony last year, there is a lot of love in the room for the band as some hearty singing testifies.  And whilst they lyrically delve into themes of anti-nationalism (‘England’s Dead’), battling adversity (‘Wishing Well’) and freedom fighting (‘Warriors’), there’s some real maturity in Lockey’s writing that promises much. 

 

Into the middle of the set and the band decide to abandon the stage and assemble in the audience for live acoustic favourite 'Boat Song'.  Every bit as energetically committed unplugged amid the beaming crowd, Lockey and co huddle around, a brave young group of lads harmonising a la barbershop quartet backed only by melodica and acoustic guitar, one of the night’s highlights.  Back to the stage and ‘Warriors’ has the front few rows in another anarcho-folk frenzy with its pacy strumming and its celebrated passionate throaty calls to arms; ‘You’ll be the saviour of this kingdom, well yeah f**king right.’

 

The set closes with anthemic single 'England's Dead' beginning with gentle Damien Rice acoustic fumbling and building intricately into a cacophony of wailing guitar and galloping drums.  The fervent crowd echo Lockey's angry ultimatum of 'You're either with them or you're one of us'.  Just shy of 45 minutes, it’s a powerful showcase of passionate poetic country-punk from a band with all the tools and a fast-growing fandom to break through this year.

Kindly published by Venue website:
http://www.venue.co.uk/music-live-reviews-j/20166-jim-lockey-a-the-solemn-sun

Best Track: Click on link below
Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun - Wishing Well