Mother Jones – Union

Mother Jones – Union / 2006 Sun Rising / 10 Tracks / http://www.motherjonesband.com /

Mother Jones has something in common with the magazine that has the same title; liberal media love the. Specifically, they were featured as the “Jam Band Artist of the Year” for 2006, and Neil Young has actually deemed them worthy enough to be on eir website as “songs of the times”. The first track is “Lost in Emotion”, and if individuals did not have a copy of this album, they would definitely guess that the track is twenty or thirty years old.

Hints of The Manfred Mann Band and Chicago present themselves during this first track, with a funky bass and dual vocals filling out this very catchy track. The term “jam band” seems to be incorrectly applied to Mother Jones during their “Union”. When I think of jam bands, I think of the String Cheese Incident and Phish. What I hear from “Union” is a seventies pop-rock band, with tracks like “Lay Me Down” sounding much more like the Starland Vocal Band than Trey Anastasio. While it is true that Mother Jones work very deeply in a specific niche, the rich instrumentation that is present during each and every song on “Union” makes for a solid disc that will stand up to repeat listenings. Despite the fact that pretty much all of the tracks on “Union” break the five minute mark, the interesting instrumentation and arrangement of that instrumentation allows the band to not have to rein it in immediately.

The Heart meets seventies rock sound of “In Your Eyes” shows that the band can vary their output if they wish to; this gives an already energetic album a shot in the arm; individuals will just be that much more transfixed by Mother Jones here. For individuals that want a current sound to their band, Mother Jones may not play the style of music that will excite them on to buying “Union”. However, if the quality of the music is what is important, the music here on “Union” is without comparison. The arrangements link together expertly played instruments, and the smoothed-out vocals give the band a shine that acts like a cherry on top of their sweet, sweet sundae. The best thing about Mother Jones is the fact that they could conceivably do this album without much in the way of changes; the music here is timeless, and there are very few in the way of things that could or should be changed.

Top Tracks: Lost in Emotion, Round and Round

Rating: 7.5/10

Sargeant

John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.

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