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from Dotmusic.com
Sun
27 Aug 2000 14:31
JJ72
Leeds Festival 2000: Evening Session Stage, 1.10pm
A teenage trio hailing from Dublin, JJ72 won't tell you where their name came from. It could stand for Janis Joplin's weight in stone when she died, it could be a German plane from World War Two. Whatever it means remains a mystery.
What's certain though, is that this fresh-faced threesome, who release their eponymous debut album on Tuesday, have a bit of a future in the giddy world of rock.
But it's not particularly their playing that sets them apart from the competition. Although it has to be said, bassist Hilary Woods and drummer Fergal Matthews whip up a punk-tinged, indie-rock storm with aplomb, recalling the like of Joy Division, Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins.
Nope, what really sets the nerve ends a tingling when listening to JJ72 is the otherworldly voice of frontman/guitarist Mark Greaney. His primal scream sounds neither male nor female. Sometimes he sounds like Kurt Cobain, the intense pain coming from somewhere deep inside.
Sometimes strangely he sounds to these ears like Poly Styrene. Hell, if old Mother Earth herself caught her finger in a door she might let fly with a sound something like this.
On one acoustic song he sounds like a choirboy Jeff Buckley, while as he loses it completely on recent single 'Oxygen', involuntary lumps form in throats and fat salty tears threaten to gush forth.
But
after fighting back the sobs it suddenly dawns on you where the band's name
comes from. Surely it must be a reference to the Rubettes' Seventies
glam-rock hit 'Jukebox Jive'. It's obvious.
Cyd Jaymes