Art school attendees, Junkbox have eschewed notions of jerkiness for a raw, practically primordial rock and roll racket, immediately achieving a star of recognition for choosing soul over style. A three piece – two members of which, Darren Van Asten and John Devolle, formulated their musical future while running the Ashley Gardens gallery, located above the Pleasure Unit venue in London – they channel blues spirits through fingers and onto frets, vocalist Van Asten rambling, apparently inanely, like a man hung out to die of thirst at a desert crossroads.
Not one note of ‘Guru’, the lead single from their forthcoming album of an eponymous titular nature, is previously unheard – Primal Scream have swum these muddy waters before, for one – but each is appreciated, if not quite exhilarating. It’s no Royal Trux rampage, but possesses seediness suitable for any Trux devotee to sink their teeth into. If the juices run clear, you’re not biting hard enough.
Bite right through, though, and expect this outfit to grow another limb right back, like a lizard leaving its tail in a bird of prey’s beak. Retro certainly – what guitar-based music isn’t – they’re nevertheless a wholly refreshing deviation from today’s r’n’r norm: angular aficionados need not apply.
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7Mike Diver's Score