Killing Joke were one of the very first bands that I seriously got into and I have been following them ever since, through both highs and lows (thankfully many more of the former). To cut to the chase this EP features the first new material recorded by the original KJ line-up of Jaz, Geordie, Youth and Paul Ferguson in 28 years! Of course they got together for some reunion concerts which were great but these four people are what can only be described as a volatile mix of characters and personalities so the fact that things went any further is in itself a bit of a miracle.
The Joke have always been a band that favoured releasing singles (back when they were fashionable) and always put in the extra effort when it came to the 12” format with extended versions and extras. In fact if you want to go and dip back into a load of their classic tracks in this format all on one CD you should (and I never do this) pop along to that well known online shop named after a river and pick up their Rmxd album for under £4! Naturally they followed this vinyl period with extended versions of songs on CD and the Pandemonium and Democracy era tracks were particularly well and truly represented and now form a large part of my extensive Killing Joke Collection.
So onto the new stuff, what we have is almost half an hour of material featuring four new tracks and one dub remix handled by Clive Goddard. The lead track ‘In Excelsis’ has that feel of the latter two comeback albums with a big booming sound and catchy stadium anthem etched chorus. I really did not like some of the singles from that era, Loose Cannon grew on me but Satellite was undeniably heavier and more enjoyable. This strikes as being pitched up in the middle, it’s an upbeat song that is quick to get you singing along and into your head. Again it has grown and no doubt given time will do so more. Being a die hard fan I am always slightly cynical when it comes to new material from this lot and lets face it some of the old stuff has had 25 years or so to work on me.
Jaz sounds absolutely great here make no mistake and the sound bristles with a bass heavy fervour. ‘Endgame’ is next, bass chugs, guitars have that arcane sort of mystic edge and the drums clatter. This at first reminds me of Pandemonium era songs and the chorus comes in again very upbeat and flattens you. Some backing croons low in the mix take this further back in time and it really does have a feel of the band progressing through the footsteps of their own history about it. Hopefully the third number ‘Kali Yuga’ will not have a curse on it as it did when Dissection tackled the theme of the destroyer with devastating results. This takes me right back, I get more than a hint of ‘Complications’ and even ‘The Wait’ when this thickly chugs (no other word will do) in. It’s got the demented Psyche about it and really is a number that I can see being gratefully accepted by the group’s fans and turned into a bit of a pit bruiser.
Something a bit different but totally unsurprising is ‘The Ghost Of Ladbroke Grove’ it really is the soundtrack of the place in the 80s, mysterious, ethnic and dub heavy. This unleashes the big audio dynamite and is the stuff of clouds of dope smoke and massive sound systems. It’s a slow track with emphasis on the dub and that’s before you even get to the dub remix. I absolutely love it and was kicking myself walking back through Ladbroke Grove the other morning without being armed with my MP3 player loaded up with this. Excellent stuff!
So these tracks are from the recording session of new (delayed) album ‘XIII Feast Of Fools’ due out in September. At time of writing it is yet to be determined if any of these numbers are going to make the final cut. This will also be available on very limited release double vinyl and the promo which no doubt some people will be hunting down (you’re not having mine) features different, although quite plain artwork from the normal alcoholic one.
http://www.killingjoke.com
http://www.myspace.com/killingjokeofficial
