The Joneses "Keeping Up With the Joneses"

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 by Sal Lucci

The Joneses
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Full Breach Kicks

Chicago, IL label Full Breach Kicks has been quite busy re-releasing the individual EPs and LPs (along with other current RnR/glam punk) the Joneses put out in the 1980s. Last year they gave us the Tits and Champagne 12″ EP and next spring they’ll be putting out the Criminals 12″ EP. FBK put in tons of work with original pics, extensive liner notes and remastering. I’ve been a Joneses fan for a long time, probably around when Sympathy for the Record Industry put out the Criminal History anthology CD.

The Joneses were an LA-based glam/punk/rocknroll/rockabilly/oldies mash (carrying the New York Dolls’ torch more so than any other band claiming to be influenced by them) that wasn’t too common in the early 1980s. They’ve been credited with influencing the style (both look and sound) of the LA Sunset Strip (I’m sure members of Motley Crue and Guns n’ Roses have some Joneses records somewhere in their collections) but themselves avoided the excessive metal wankery many of the more noted Sunset Strip bands went for. I’m not sure how I feel about Keeping Up with the Joneses.

As a positive, it has five songs that weren’t on the SFTRI anthology CD, liner notes detailing the problems the band faced in putting out this album and lots of pics. As a negative, the sound is very muddy (which I would attribute to recording techniques and budget back in 1986) and the five extra songs aren’t necessarily their best. I would say pick it up if you have the chance and are a die-hard Joneses fan but I probably won’t be giving it as many spins as I did the SFTRI disc from a few years back.

Doesn’t Rock l Kinda Rocks l Rocks l Really Rocks

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