Jeff the Brotherhood: Heavy Days

Formed in 2001 and already on its sixth album, Jake and Jamin Orrall are Jeff the Brotherhood. The Tennessee-based family band — Dad Robert helps run their label Infinity Cat, which the boys started in high school — have been a well-kept secret of the local punk and hard rock scene around Nashville for far too long. Now, it’s time for the rest of us to play catch-up as Heavy Days becomes its first record to get widespread distribution. With Jake on guitar and vocals and Jamin on drums, the brothers fuse together hard psych, muscular power-pop, and punchy punk in order to spit out a melodic speedball of pure rock ‘n’ roll energy. The gentle buzz of bees (really!) opens the album’s excellent title track before the menacing calm is shattered by an electric blues-punk squall of insistent riffage and skin-pummelling defiancy that sets the tone perfectly for what’s to follow. Highlights include “Growing”, where the duo bring to mind the Fall, especially Jake’s Mark E. Smith-like vocal stylings, and the wonderful “Bone Jam”, a tight slice of fun, fun, fun, powerhouse power-pop. Oh joy, heavy days are here again!