Jumpstarted Plowhards - "Round One"

In my corner of the music world, the Jumpstarted Plowhards collaboration between Mike Watt(Minutemen, firehose) and Todd Congelliere(Toys That Kill, The Underground Rail Road to Candyland, F.Y.P.) constitutes a super group. Throw in George Hurley(Minutemen) and Patty Schemel(Hole) backing up some of the tracks on drums and the punk nerds rejoice! But even if you knew nothing any of these people, there is plenty to hold on to musically and lyrically. 

Track 1, "On The Counter" starts with some with some guitar distortion with a nice bass fill from Watt in the background, before the song kicks into gear. This isn't punk music for moshing but rather to get your feet moving and sing a long. The repetition of the chorus at the end song drives home the beat. 

If you are looking for a big rock n roll feel, check out "Claws Break Down". The huge guitar fills along with the plink plonk sound of the bass and drums remind me of Mott the Hoople or more rockin' Bowie tunes. The lyrics make it all about Monday for any of us working stiffs in the audience. 

"Makin' It All Settle Down" is a song I would want to hear live. It has some super heavy drum sequences followed with interludes of Minutemen-esque guitar breaks. Again, we're talking about the corporate ladder, as Todd C imagines it. But he asks if it should really bother us. 

The last track I will focus on is "Babylon Gone". Here we have a lament to the down grading of everything as we become more myopic and selfish. When I hear these lyrics, "In this culture of a headache / And the cost of the pathetic / Go write your own song!", I'm reminded of the first time I saw Watt play, a very long time ago in St. Paul, MN. He was opening for Primus and the meatheads who only wanted to mosh were booing and generally giving Watt shit. At the end of this set he said, "If you don't like it, start your own band!" That's the fest F You I've ever heard a musician deliver. In the the context of this song, Jumpstarted Plowhards are talking doing something to make it better. It is trite to say, "Be the change you want to see" but it is also true. 

To summarize, this combination of musicians works. The music move me in all the good ways and the lyrics run the line between silly and poignant. I'd jam this when doing things around the house or on any road trip.