The Ragged Jubilee - “Like A Knife”
We are very picky about the upbeat, down and dirty rock and roll that we feature on the blog, but when we got an earful of California-based The Ragged Jubilee, we were instantly transported back to the days of living in the city, going to shows five nights a week, and knowing we were in the right place when the smell of the previous night was still emanating from the carpeted stage.
The track we’ve selected from The Ragged Jubilee is entitled “Like A Knife” and it comes from their fifth studio album, Mulholland Overdrive (once we saw the title of this record, we knew they were going to be on the blog). This thing is a wild ride, people. It’s the kind of track that makes you beat the living hell out of your steering wheel while playing along with the intro in your car– picture the Ramones meets early QOTSA and you’ll be in the ballpark.
Once the guitars come in, “Like A Knife” becomes dangerously close to being punk rock, but what saves it from falling over that ledge are the vocals, as well as the dynamic shifts that come later. But this vocal work is strangely reminiscent to all the records you grew up listening to– there’s some CCR in there, with small portions of Robert Plant, and for you youngsters, it has been sprinkled with the authority of Wolfmother. They are not quite what we expected upon pressing play, but they are one of the reasons that kept us listening.
“Like A Knife” takes its time, letting you really get to know the band, often changing gears and dividing itself into sections as though a much larger body of work– it crescendos, it dives back down, and it builds back up. An important thing to note: the song is closing in on eleven minutes in length, so if you happen to be in the car, relax… Let that moving van cut you off… You’re going to be late anyway… And it is going to be f’ing worth it.
-TM