Album Review: The Blue Hearts – Jukebox of Maladies

There’s a real edge of Nick Cave in this. Well, Nick Cave if he spent too much time in late bars jamming with good ol’ boys with steel guitars and fiddles. The whole thing is steeped in Johnny Cash brand Americana, very much invoking thoughts of whiskey and Nashville.

It’s an odd thing to find original alt-country of this calibre in the UK, and Brighton’s Blue Hearts do seem to very much be forging their own road, even naming their own genre, Neon Rock, to try and adequately describe their sound. Its fairly apt really, this is the kind of thing you could only find under a flickering neon light down a back street somewhere. You might just have the time of your life, or you may be dead before the night is over, but either way, you’ve just got to go in…

If you like your American blues, alt country and the dark parts of Mr J Cash, then this is for you. If you’re looking for Tammy Wynette, you’re in the wrong bar, son.

www.bluehearts.co.uk