The Jaded Hearts Club are back, with their new album ‘Live at The 100 Club‘.
The Jaded Hearts Club features Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets), Nic Cester (Jet), Graham Coxon (Blur), Jamie Davis (Transcopic Records), Matt Bellamy (Muse) and Sean Payne (The Zutons). They are quite the supergroup, reimagining classics from the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who, bringing older and sometimes forgotten tracks back into the 21st century.
‘Live at The 100 Club’ was recorded at the band’s first ever London show. From start to finish, it is a non-stop, high energy journey of the band’s own grungy rock style. Opening with Van Morrison’s track ‘Gloria‘, Nic Cester’s gritty vocals give a new depth to the song. The guitar break in the middle of the track showcases the appreciative shouts of the audience, reminding you that this is a live album. The audience participation does make you feel as though you’re in the Oxford Street venue yourself, part of the great atmosphere of intimate live shows.
The Zutons’ saxophonist Abi Harding joins the band for their rendition of Richard Berry’s ‘Have Love Will Travel‘. The band move at lightning speed through the setlist, straight into The Who’s ‘My Generation‘. The performance is shouty, frenetic and sweaty, ending with cacophonous guitars and percussion. The speed of the original track is ramped up tenfold, something I didn’t think was even possible. I have to admit now that The Jaded Hearts Club have educated me of my music history through the release of this album. I hang my head in shame that I didn’t know until now that Flying Lizzards’ 1979 track ‘Money‘ is in fact a cover itself, originally released in 1959 by Barrett Strong. The Jaded Hearts Club version is much more loyal to Strong’s fantastic original, with significantly more attitude, guitar and noise.
You would be forgiven for mistaking The Jaded Hearts Club as being another fad supergroup, rolling your eyes at the idea of yet another cover band. The tracks on this album seem, at face value, like simple, no frills reworkings. Some cover bands are known for taking popular songs and completely changing their style and genre completely, which can make the tracks almost unrecognisable. Contrastingly, The Jaded Hearts Club could be considered to be playing it safe, perhaps not wanting to risk falling into this same category? It may not be amazingly groundbreaking, but the great thing about this album is hearing new versions of iconic sounds. You can feel that if The Beatles were writing and performing ‘Please Please Me‘ in 2021, that it would sound extremely similar to the version on this record. The point of The Jaded Hearts Club is to show off these iconic tracks, paying homage to the original creations and manipulating them through each member’s own influence. Rather than performing mutations of the songs, the band are providing evolutions. I’m sure that if the original artists listened to the this live recording, they would be proud of the work that The Jaded Hearts Club has done.
Kane, Cester, Coxon, Davis, Bellamy and Payne keep the world of covers fresh, funky and cool. This album shows off the energy of the original artists, with an energetic and modern rock edge. Whilst ‘Live At The 100 Club’ is perhaps not an album to sit and listen to from beginning to end, it’s certainly one to dance to. So, if you’re missing live music, turn this album up to eleven, and transport yourself straight back to the dance floor once more.
