The Jaggernauts
Lucio Fulci EP (2004, Krapp Records)

With a name like the Jaggernauts I had expected sloppy cowpunk or raunchy garage rock to ooze from my headphones. Not the case. Though the J'nauts are sloppy and raunchy at times this is far from your standard 3-chord booze-fueled punk rock n roll. Instead they deliver 4 quick percussion-less songs with primitive melodic guitar sounds, sometimes employing effects. The vocal delivery reminds me of Billy Bragg and Roky Erickson and the gruff tone has much in common with Mark Lanegan or Bob Mould.

A quick Google scan tells me the title track is none other than the critically heralded goremaster of yesteryear himself, Lucio Fulci, and sure enough this is an ode to one of Fulci's works, Zombie. The bouncy sing-along chorus of 'sharks eat zombies and people, zombies eat sharks and people' had me itching to actually check this movie out. There's also a cover of Die Kruezen's 'Slow' on the EP. I have yet to hear the original so I can't speak for any differences/similarities.

The muddled production on a few songs tends to black out some of the vocals, though in the EP's defense it is a cd-r release and this appears to be The Jaggernauts debut recording so this can be treated as a demo of sorts. Regardless, this had a certain rugged charm to it that will keep me tuned in to newer material. Touch it up a bit, add more more depth to the band and this could end up being a potentially remarkable band.

-Beat 7/6/05

P.S. Grab the EP on the Krapp Records website as well as an extra live song and a few videos.