Review 04/02/10- Jerry Afraid "Jerry Afraid EP"

SCREAMLITE RECORDS LTD REVIEW FORM
Band Name: Jerry Afraid
CD Title: Jerry Afraid EP
Press Pack Included: Yes
Review: The press pack included was short and very plain, but it did include a rough idea of some cover art that Jerry Afraid would like to use in the future along with 2 colour photos of him performing at The Louisiana, Bristol. It does however cover some of the bases, such as contact information and some of the venues that Jerry has played. The pack itself could however be improved with some more detail about his style and maybe some more about the EP itself, but it does give enough of the bare facts to get by.
From the very start of “There You Go,” you get the impression that this is what Radiohead would sound like as a folk band! The almost hypnotic strummed acoustic gives a calming sensation while all around is very well structured chaos. Jerry has somehow done what many bands since the aforementioned Radiohead have tried and failed to do and that is combine traditional guitar and various leftfield instruments such as the prominent Theremin. The vocals are well executed and well mixed which shows the strength in Jerry’s voice alone.
Despite the brilliance throughout of this musical juxtaposition you can sometimes get the sense that if you stripped all the odd instruments away that this would be any normal “one man and guitar” folk project, a path that has been trodden so many times that it would be hard to break through the pack. However, with plans for a full band and the leftfield instruments, this would be one occasion where weird is definitely better.