The Jerk Store Called...

Irascible three-piece Some Jerks have laid low this year, mainly due to band members sojourning to the far flung corners of the globe. Any preconceived notions of a tempering of energy, however, are about to be quashed by the release of their third album Buddy Rich Made Me Cry, a record that underscores their strengths as a band and the eclectic genres they invariably straddle.

“I think the album perfectly captures our transition over the past year,” drummer Simon Walker enthuses. “We recorded the album in January at a time when we had some songs ready and were writing a lot. When we put out that EP we had been playing together for less than six months, which was half of our set really. Throughout the year things built up and we had the songs [to] where we thought we should get them down and then move on. So now we have a whole load of new songs coming through now that shows an even further transition, how much tighter we are and how we are moving in a really good direction.”

Despite coming out almost a year after the initial recording sessions, Buddy Rich Made Me Cry stands as a testament to a young band honing their skills. “It's been a real journey, as we have all come at it from different angles,” Walker insists. “So while the album is fairly eclectic, I think that by album's end we as a band come across as more focused than if you grabbed a couple of the songs randomly. We used the time to try writing different types of songs, so there are some heavy songs, some soppy songs, some dirty psych-garage tracks and ones that echo that '60s all-girl-band style of songwriting. At the end of it all we found some form of direction, we pushed a lot of these different ideas together.”

This experimentation with form has also allowed for more focus on vocals, as main singer Victoria Watson's voice cuts right through to the front of the mix, and Will O'Brien takes on sole vocal duties on a number of tracks. All of these elements add to fleshing out what already was an energised sound. “Vick has a great voice, so it makes sense that this became a focus,” Walker states. “Some of the slower songs in particular feature great melodies, and they needed to come to the front and shine. Whereas Will's voice and vocals coming to the front is more of him gaining confidence over time within that role. It's a great dynamic that is building within the band, and the harmonies that those two have got grow the more we play together. We have worked out what works and what doesn't for us, so the energy there is getting better and better.”

With the launch of the album imminent, Walker is understandably itchy to get back on stage and keep the creative juggernaut rolling while proving that they are not an easily definable band; they have something most punters will wholly enjoy. “We are pretty eclectic, and that shows on the album – Tomorrow's Sun is a great song, but there is nothing else like it on there, so it sits alone. There are a few other tracks like that, and I think it works. Vick and I come from an older rock'n'roll atmosphere; when we play live most of our songs are twice as fast as they are when we record them. We can be clean, we can be dirty, we can play a quieter, poppy set or we can mix it with Hits and those bands. We can play across different genres and groups, and I think that is a real strength. At the end of the day, we just want to party.”