Jonny Du Bois & the Hoo-Hah Conspiracy : 'Tips & Tricks for the Modern Age'
Released: Out Now!!!
I am recovering from deafness and liver bruising due to my recent visit to Café 1001 in Brick Lane. I believe it was the late Errol Flynn who said: “My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.” If like me you believe there is a more pressing reconciliation to be made between talent and the music industry and that if one is to botch one’s ear drums it is best to do so through engagement with great quality, then look no further than Jonny Du Bois & the Hoo-Hah Conspiracy who’s latest album, Tips & Tricks for the Modern Age won Best Modern Rock Album at the JPF World Music Awards 2009 in Nashville, USA.
Since the success of Telling Tales which also won the JPF Modern Rock Album Award in 2006, the band have clearly honed their powers of observation and mastered the musical art form. This latest offering captures the obscure and the eccentric, and does so in potent protest against the average, the grey and the unchallenging, opening with a sympathetic glance at the pathological narcissism exhibited by one Hugo Fruit bowl. This immensely catchy first track maps the tribulations of a man who lives in a constant state of anti-reality. I couldn’t help being drawn to Mr Fruit bowl. An electric beginning that immediately gives the listener something to play with.
Tips & Tricks for the Modern Age will get inside your head and your heart after the first listen but for me, this occurred at precisely the four minute mark. The reason for this was A Touch of the Colin Firths. Everyone I know (nay the entire population of the British Isles) has at various times wished they possessed the on-screen panache of none other than Mr Darcy. For most of us it is but a mere pipe dream. For others it is more achievable. And for some, illusion is as good as the real thing. Even now the ‘fairer sex’ requires ‘eloquent pretenders’ to impress by passing without question through the flaming hoops of gallantry, but why? Jonny Du Bois & the Hoo-Hah Conspiracy be-foul this collective of plebeians still inhabiting the peripherals of our dating culture. It is a piece of music more than worthy of being used as an international film soundtrack. I think it’s also worth mentioning that Jonny may be channelling the vocal characteristics of David Bowie in this particular instance but with balance, integrity and witticism enough to render the desired outcome.
Pocket Phil is the album’s moral centre, and a warning to those who actively discriminate against the anatomically ill proportioned. I’ve heard it mentioned by the wise and experienced that if a man has large feet it follows that he is hung like a Grand National winner. As a rule you don’t generally see men with large feet hiding the fact. Pricilla may get a shock if (having been rescued from the icy water) she returns to Pocket Phil’s tattered adolescent retreat only to realise he has minute feet.
I judge a band’s greatness on their ability to compellingly reflect the struggles of life in art’s mirror and vice versa. With this gift solidly intact, The Hoo Hah Conspiracy cover a wide breadth of subject matter over nine tracks including one man’s desire to attach his needs to those of his administrational temptress, Miss Grey. This track is bawdy, hilarious and entirely true to nature. Added to this was a nostalgic reminder of The Ballad of Chasey Lain by The Bloodhound Gang rooted in ‘comic pop-rock’. The band continue to demonstrate their firm grasp of the song writing process with the fifth track Do You Ever Reach Out At Night. It also comes as a more sobering counterpoint to the previous tracks. It is a touching, beautifully arranged and exquisitely produced piece of music that points the album in a more serious and philosophical direction.
Mercury Man is the sixth track on the album and a firm salute to new wave super groups such as Duran Duran and Power station. The timing for this track, on this album at this time couldn’t be more perfect. There is no shortage of demand for refreshing revivalists in the current climate. If you needed further proof of this band’s extensive repertoire then it surely comes in the form of no. seven on the album, My Blue Soul. This track demonstrates the Conspiracy’s gift for appealing directly to the human condition.
Jonny Du Bois & the Hoo-Hah Conspiracy executes almost every sub-genre of popular rock music like session musicians. My influence radar broke off in shards as the penultimate track on the album entitled Fluoxetine Ravine began like a mixture of Jean Michel Jarre, Leftfield, Alan Silvestri and John Farrar (the last two being the contributing musicians for the 1986 Disney science fiction film Flight of the Navigator). Ironically, despite the key words ‘sensory’ and ‘depravation’ (which would include no sound) I imagined myself locked in a chamber built to wrap the body and all its receptors in a mask of speechless serenity. Do not be concerned if while listening to this track you imagine yourself somewhere other than where you are. This is perfectly natural. You should welcome this with the same gusto the band uses to deliver their variation of musical nuances.
This band confidently shapes the last track on the album to carry a determined message to their listeners. Just One World is a love song, an affirmation of self, a call to action over lethargy. It is a celebration of making the best of oneself, living for the moment as well as towards a prosperous future. The album as a whole is a delicately crafted piece of work, not a note out of place. The musicianship is second to none, the quality of song writing untouchable. With this record now definitely in my collection you’ll have to prise it from my cold dead hands if you want it.
www.myspace.com/thehoohahconspiracy
Words: Phillip Cogger
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Reply #1 on : Thu March 24, 2011, 11:18:40