The path to the goal together is much easier than alone. Yes, he will be deprived of the romantic flair of a lone wolf, but it’s more convenient to go in good company. On the other hand, we still need to try to find qualified like-minded people. Today we will look at a trio of the most powerful guys who had to assemble themselves in different countries of a small European continent. Because it’s not easy to find good rockabilly. Ladies and gentlemen, to your attention, The Nut Jumpers!
It would be fair to call this band a supergroup. Although almost everyone has several teams on our small stage, it’s a matter of scale. For example, drummer Rickie Lee Brown is a native of the British eighties revival in the form of The Stargazers band, the founder of The Big Six from the 90s, and just one of those “Space Cadets”. In addition to all this, his track record includes The Shooting Stars: a very juicy, though not very fruitful project of the mid-tenths. In “Shooting Stars” for the first time there was a creative unity with guitarist Helen Shadow (Helen Ingham). She has previously been seen in several bands such as Killer Brew and The Johnson Family. The latter has about the same guitar style as in the Nutty Jumpers, but the team itself, in my opinion, does not deserve much attention.
The third resident was the master of thick strings, vocal cords and sometimes the harmonica, already familiar to us from Hot Chickens, Hervier Loison. Actually, it was he who became the trigger that launched the chain of events that led to this article. I was haunted by his laurels, or rather their validity. After all, Hot Chickens is far from the strongest team, and it was hard to believe that it was the best rockabilly band in France. Analyzing this case, there is a risk of becoming filled with magical thinking.
After all, when it’s the band Hot Chickens and Hervier Loison, everything is not very cheerful. But once Hervier transforms into Jake Calypso, and the rest of the musicians, Christophe and Theriere, join Jake Calypso & His Red Hot band, everything sounds much better. The ruthless time can be blamed for the negative changes, but Jake-Hervier himself sounds as cheerful in 2024 as on the early recordings. Perhaps it’s all about the healing properties of the cool air of the British Isles, because The Nut Jumpers are nominally an English team.
The Nut Jumpers – Woah Oh No
Boogie in the Shack (2018)
The debut album was released in February 2018 and its title, “Boogie in the Shack”, perfectly conveys the essence. Inspired by the garage sound, straightforward, primitive and aggressive, this album knocks out all doubts about the presence of gunpowder in the flasks of honorable monsieur, lady and gentleman. The spirit of Eddie Cochran is felt most of all here. I would especially like to mention the compositions Set Me Free, C‘mon, C’mon and No Good, No Good. The jamming riff of the latter perfectly highlights the trio’s brazen charisma. Well, Catholic Boy catches on to the blues qualities quite well.
The Nut Jumpers Are Back! (2023)
The album’s content varies depending on the type of publication: 3 tracks on vinyl or 4 on CD. But in our digital release, it mysteriously gathered into three separate singles. The sound here is even drier and more spartan, and, in fact, it’s more of a curious release than a really interesting one. The same cannot be said about the next full-length album.
Generation Rock’n’roll (2024)
The second full-length album lost some dirty notes, retained its straightforwardness and added a fierce dose of dope. The latter is off the charts in places, such as in the buffoonish composition Miss Pussy or in the preceding Chickies. In general, the record is very eclectic. In addition to this nonsense, there is the mysterious Timeless, which sounds like the soundtrack to Austin Powers. Or a perky French-speaking A Plein Cœur. Among the damn dozen tracks are the beautiful life-affirming ballad I’ll Be Just Fine and the ardent greetings of Buddy Holly Pearly Doll Got Married. However, I still like the debut LP because of its integrity.
The Nut Jumpers prove the importance of the right company. Having gathered in exactly this configuration, the group was able to combine a brave spirit and powerful experience. It was difficult for the participants to achieve this in other teams, but here it works great. And they’ve got enough madness for everyone. It’s easy to be forever young when you have like-minded people.
