1,287 JIM BOB, Bristol Rough Trade Records, Sunday 2nd July 2023

 

A chance tonight to renew acquaintances with an old gig face! I was a big fan of Jim Bob’s mid-80’s jangle pop band Jamie Wednesday, and despite numerous false starts I even managed to see them “live” once, in Bristol in May 1987 supporting The Men They Couldn’t Hang (gig 78!). I’d subsequently turned up to meet Jim and Co. before their next gig, again on the undercard for TMTCH, at The Astoria in August later that year (gig 85), only to be informed by the man that the JDubs (as they were known to both of their fans) had split up earlier that week, but that he and bandmate Les were going to play the gig backed up by a drum machine. Thus it was that I unwittingly attended the first ever Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine gig…! Carter USM took awhile to really inveigle themselves into my consciousness, but I eventually became a fan, watching with a mixture of pride and “I saw them first” smugness as they quickly rose to briefly become 90’s Indie press darlings (Steve Lamacq, my favourite NME hack back then, being particularly fulsome in his praise) and Festival headliners. Since their late 90’s dissolution, I confess I’d not kept up much with Jim’s subsequent solo career; however we’d enjoyed his recent performances at Shiiine On, both solo and with his band The Hoodrats, and tonight, a CD release show at Bristol’s splendid Rough Trade for new album “Thanks For Reaching Out”, represented an opportunity not only to catch up with his current works, but also, perchance, to briefly revisit those JDubs days…

 So I packed up my Gigbook No. 1 (featuring the setlist from said JDubs gig) plus a folder-full of newsletters and correspondence I’d kept from those days, and, with a curious Jami joining me at the last minute (Rach and Logan being away for the weekend), hit a sunny M4 about ¼ to 6, joining a queue to get in on arrival. Got drinks and chatted with a chap about US popsters Cheekface before joining Jami, who’d bagged a front and centre spot. Nice work! Jim Bob joined us at 7.30, accompanied by bandmate and Jack Black lookalike Chris, who acted as MC for an entertaining half hour of chat, highlights being the retelling of the infamous Carter USM HMV Oxford Street instore appearance, when manager Jon “Fat” Beast encouraged the crowd to shoplift, and Jacob Rees-Mogg’s (adverse) reaction to being featured in Jim’s recent video for “Sebastian’s Gone On A Ridealong”! Some Q&A’s too (I asked about his appearances at Shiiine On, and Jami asked about his favourite own compositions), but generally an entertaining and funny half hour of easy bonhomie.

 

Finally Jim dispensed with the banter, bolted on his electric guitar and treated us to a half hour performance of selections from the new album, accompanied by Chris on keys. Opener “Thanks For Reaching Out” was a melancholy yet strangely uplifting ballad, “What Goes Around” had a dark and menacing murder ballad feel reminiscent of Nick Cave, and “Sebastian” itself was a snarky and sarky number about politicians paying lip service to good works. All the new material, however, happily featured the usual Jim Bob lyrical gift for highlighting both the mundane minutiae of humdrum everyday existence and the absurdity of current world events, and subverting them into cynical yet memorable pun-like soundbites. More entertaining banter too; a chat with the crowd about cancel culture, a remark about his glasses slipping leading to a terrible Graham Coxon Blur joke, and a story of how Carter USM and Westlife nearly got into a brawl at a Festival!

“Billionaire In Space” was a highlight, slightly recalling Bowie’s “Space Oddity” for me, and “Befriend The Police” featured the ironic hook, “bring on the dancing nurses”… a Bunnymen reference perhaps? “Prince Of Wales” (about a pub, apparently!) rounded off a fine acoustic rendering of some very melodic new songs; I’m happy copies of the record were included in the ticket price, because I can’t wait to hear them on CD…

 

Joined the queue at the end, along with another father/ daughter couple who intended to pitch the idea for a Carter USM musical to Jim! Our turn eventually came, and I shared my Jamie Wednesday stuff with a softly-spoken but incredulous Jim, who claimed to remember me from those days (aah, that’s nice!) and was amazed that I’d kept all that stuff. A brief chat, congrats from me about Carter’s success down the years, pics and signatures with the man later, we gave way to the “pitch” duo, Jami the musical theatre fan earwigging on their plans, before grabbing some food from the Greek takeaway on the corner and hitting the road, home for 10. Lovely to catch up with Jim Bob after all these years, and great to hear some quality new material from an entirely promising new album, which will certainly ensure I keep a closer eye on his exploits in future!