“Oh! Do you like rockabilly? And what is your favorite Twin Peaks episode?” – there is not even a fraction of a joke left in this joke, because the trend of worshiping Lynch’s creation in our community is breathtakingly comprehensive. And it only works one way: Lynch’s fans are more likely to musically lean towards dark jazz and industrial. They don’t need any grease, and for a double bass slap they can send them to a black lodge to spend time. Perhaps it was there that Jake Calypso‘s new album, Give Yourself a Present, was composed and recorded.
This is really the best explanation for the origin of the record, because Monsieur Jake’s cheerful foolishness is very difficult to connect with the transcendent nightmares of the otherworld. The same ultimatum-right psychopaths from Hot Rod Frankie are even more appropriate in Lynchland… However, this view is too superficial. The colors of Monsieur Jake and his hot chicken friends fit into the overall palette of the desired images. I’ll explain exactly how at the end.
I really like the sound of this album. Mr. Stéphane Bihan, sound engineer, did a very interesting job. The balance between the raw uncouth sound straight from the film, as it was in Nut Jumpers, and the modern directness of Hot Chickens is meticulously maintained. Despite the fact that all the instruments are perfectly readable, the same magical effect of unintentional eavesdropping remains.
But if the Nut Jumpers are eavesdropping from under the closed barn door, behind which a session is taking place for their own, then it’s as if a sound engineer’s technical microphone is mixed into the mix. As you know, a forgotten random audio signal can give rise to a whole galaxy of genres, as was the case with Phil Collins and the Gate Reverb effect (those same drums from the 1980s). Here, the consequences are much more modest, but no less important: it is this effect of presence that gives the aftertaste, which makes it very difficult to forget the record.
The performance is quite standard and recognizable for musicians. It’s the same guys from Hot Chickens: Ben Driver on double bass and the snide Thierry Sellier on drums. The six-stringed Christophe Gillet also joined them, but this does not fundamentally change the picture. But the authorship of the tracks is much more interesting. About half of them were written by a certain Don Cavalli. He is a respected, prolific and eclectic man in French rock’n’roll. Some of his work is intentionally low-key, similar to Jake’s experiments, but meeting them on the same record is not the most anticipated event. Although… considering Monsieur Calypso’s speed, I wouldn’t be surprised at a fit with Slim Jim.
So, the log tells us that 12 juicy and very funny tracks are waiting for us.
The album opens with a piece by Jake I Don’t Want to Sing Bop Bop Bop! It’s very funny how it combines distant vocals with distinct instruments. You don’t hear that in modern music. And about the bop… Oh, you old devil, Hervé! That’s literally what you’re doing in this song!
But the next Life of a Rock’n’roll Band has already been written by Monsieur Cavalli. And it’s very interesting how Jake and his colleagues turn explicit country music into something much sharper and prickly.
In British Rocker, with a touch of bond, Jake seems to be nostalgic for the days of carousing on the island. Real or fictional is not so important.
Who Is Bb? Well, to be honest, I do not know what kind of B flat it is. But as a rockabilly song, it’s great. Well, I’ll tell you a secret: BB are the initials of Brigitte Bardot, by the times she was muse of Serge Gainsbourg, so given Herve identity, comments are unnecessary.
And all of a sudden, I Forgot to Remember to Forget by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers bursts into this author’s mix. It always amazed me, in such niche projects. To try to stand in line with Presley, Cash, Jerry Lee and Chris Isaak is still a brave thing. Is it only courage?.. The performance is good, closer to the Cash version, which is rather strange considering the choice of options.
What can unite musicians in general? Calypso and Cavalli seem to share a sense of humor. Because Dyslexia Blues, written by Don, is very similar to Jake’s joke.
I Wanna Go to Heaven is also a rather unexpected parked gospel song by Cavalli. Fun, obsessive, singing along.
I Was Dancing to Tom Jones… I don’t know why, and I don’t condemn Jake’s desire to dance with the Welsh pop singer. Perhaps, at this level, Calypso’s jokes can only be explained by Lynch’s logic of sleep.
Sp 103 – I give up… Lynchian logic does not save here either. Well, it’s just a good song, okay?
Vote Rock’n’roll – are elections coming soon in France too? So the political program is quite viable. From each according to swing, to each according to rotation!
Cool in every way, Laura Palmer is very strange. This composition looks like fan art, which does not refer to the object of worship at all. And it sounds like it could have been in a Lynch movie. Such is the closure of the idea on itself. The Mobius song turns out.
That would be the place to finish the album. But the twelfth number accompanies us to infinity… a cover of Hank Williams, dispersed by the fateful rockabilly train! It was impossible to guess at all! Why is it here? By the way, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry is beautifully performed, yes.
And these are the contradictions that make up this record. It’s completely unclear how all this holds together in one logical way, but it holds together, forming a very interesting rockabilly album. If you don’t go into details, then he listens very wholeheartedly. And, most importantly, it is memorable. Even if it’s a very vague memory.
But what does Twin Peaks have to do with it? Is it really a reference for the sake of one song and photos on a red background? Everything is not so simple and sad again. Jake grabbed the spirit of Twin Peaks by the gills! It’s just that this is a specific Twin Peaks in the middle of the second season. Not about mysticism and beautiful people in formal clothes, but about goofy childishness with biting ferrets and chess super-villains. With his record, Jake sends us not to the Twin Peaks of Dale Cooper and Bob, but to the Twin Peaks of Andy Brenon and Lucy Moran. Naive, funny, crazy and infinitely cozy.
