Revel Rousers

Artist – Jackal Trades

Album – Trip Hazard Advisor

https://jackaltrades.bandcamp.com/album/trip-hazard-advisor

Idiosyncratic Glaswegian rapper, Jackal Trades aka Mark McGee enters the hip-hop arena super equipped, delivering the cut of his jib with an interesting spin-off concept album titled ‘Trip Hazard Advisor’ which was released October 1st 2018 and stands as a follow up from the journey of ‘Jack the Lad’ which appeared on Jackal’s 2016 ‘Need the Character(s)’ album. Collaborating with a blend of Scotland’s finest hip-hop producers over 16 tracks, such as Mistah Bohze, Physiks, Asthmatic Astronaut and Scatabrainz as well as featuring distinguished female vocalists, Jo D’arc, Becci Wallace, Sev Ka, and Becca Star to name but a specified few.

Jackal Trades has skilfully & successfully laid down a superbly rounded, vocally assorted album laced with signature beats and a distinguished, immersive rap narrative which overflows with creative energy, depth of expression, & clarity of deliverance. Jackal Trades was also nominated for ‘Best Hip Hop Artist’ at the SAMA (Scottish Alternative Music Awards ) 2018 which took place at the end of October 2018 in St Lukes with the selected winner of the title going to the supremely articulate, positive force that is Dave Hook, aka Solare. https://solareye.bandcamp.com/releases

Trip Hazard opens with quality production from Mistah Bohze on a track titled, ‘Checking In Where We Left Off.’ The track triumphantly brings forth Mistah’s dextrous b-boy scratch prowess as he executes a phat thunderous introduction to Jack, the main character to this conceptual rap narrative who finds himself embroiled in various social and interpersonal circumstances. These situations range from knife-edge scheme/estate life, in tracks such as ‘Setting The Scene’ (On Fire) to music-scene snobbery and social detachment in ‘The House That Jack’…. A track that presents Mistah’s compact, witty & sardonic rap flow along-side rappers, Dog House, Ant Thomaz, and vocalist Josephine Sillars.

That specific track owns an infectious vocal hook that flows, ‘To everybody in the house who loves house music, who never got allowed in the house to ever prove it.’…. Which no doubt will bore its way into the mushy-pens of all who embrace this sonic anthology and assuredly will be a top-quality excuse for a sing-along at a Jackal Trades live show. Consistently throughout this album, Jackal Trades rap flow is cerebral, witty and humorous with a concise vocal clarity that’s perfect to project his anecdotes.

This concept narrative offers densely articulated scenarios as well as an interesting play on words and use of metaphors. Incontestably it is a sublime celebration of unique musical talent and variating styles within the genre of hip-hop, igniting the flames of diversity in both vocal and production aspects. There within lays a compellingly diverse plethora of human behaviors described in a characterized clever manner, from dishonesty due to self-inadequacies, to the thrill and rush of the downward spiral towards delinquency, from heady chaotic, drug-fuelled nights out, projected from an introspective viewpoint to potent realizations and full drawn conclusions.

Most certainly these set of songs evokes thought and provides an arresting atmosphere. Jackal Trades explains that “This is the story of a young man called Jack who goes on a schemadelic trip after being baffled by the oversaturation of never-ending advice in the digital information age.” I think the moral of the story is, don’t try to fix yourself online……. Overall this is an interesting D.I.Y project from Mark which deserves attention to detail and appreciation towards his creative bright spark format. Jackal Trades, ‘Trip Hazard Advisor’ is OUT NOW on Spotify, Itunes, Bandcamp etc and please make sure to follow the Jackal Trades social media page for further 2019 creative endeavors. https://www.facebook.com/Jackaltrades1/

Band – Franky’s Evil Party

Single – King

D.I.Y Punk

www.frankysevilparty.bandcamp.com

Franky’s Evil Party are a teeth-gritting hooley who offer no half measures in heady, unhinged creative release. In summer 2018, the band offered their second, knife-edge single ‘King’ which popped off anticipation for their full debut Ep. This Scottish underground punk orientated quintet formed out of an unwavering drive to craft a seething, uninhibited barrage of intense rock noise in what the band view to be an otherwise exhausted guitar landscape. Fronting an unwavering hedonism, they play what they want, how they want, and their aim is to lead their sonic movement into the subterranean spaces to test what their true limits are. For this outfit, the realm of brash noise is the key to pushing the boundaries musically into territories near beat-driven and expressing with physical vehemence is undoubtedly the core roots of both self and creative exploration.

Franky’s Evil Party was kick-started with a debut single titled ‘Dolph Lundgren’ in February of last year, a hedonistic track that is resolutely tension fuelled, driven by infectious basslines, swirling guitar hooks and bellowing antagonistic vocals. The band are planning on releasing their full debut Ep sometime at the beginning of 2019 and have currently released another track from the Ep titled ‘Blonde’. The band’s intensely edgy, tipping-point live shows have been causing the sweat to drip from dark, atmospheric intimate venues within the Glasgow live scene. In a recent interview with ‘Offtherecord’ blog, they expressed that their sound is better suited to the underground scene and its venues, which leaves the band wide open to being as controversial, radical and hellraising as they like.

F.E.P single ‘King’ is unashamedly a full-on sonic assault as the whole vibe of the song supply’s a strutting, attitude-ridden kick to the head, again in alignment with their first debut single release the track builds throughout on high intensive anticipation and knife-edge tension, offering heady tripped-out psychedelic vocals which bore into the skull with brutal force as the track climaxes to distorted ear bleeding capacity. This sonic sledgehammer comes crashing in its fearless nature as the band explains that ‘KING‘ essentially, rants for the sake of individuality and self-identity. FRANKY’S EVIL PARTY states that they produced this single to prove a point about the ease of selfdom in the millennial age. Now we get ready for and the rest of what their debut has to offer in 2019…….