Tracklisting: 'Shoes' 'Black Sheep Generator' 'Burnt By The Sun' 'If You Go My Way' 'Payback Day'

I hadn't really heard much of Jesse James before I went to see Lit @ Mean Fiddler in London, where they were supporting. Before they came onstage there was whispers of excitement from the crowd - especially the girls. They got a great reaction when the came onstage - 6 (now 7) fit men, kitted out with guitars, sax, trumpets, and trombones - my first thought was 'ska punk', but the sound that I heard was much smoother than that - more soul punk. Their set was great, they were a really good live act, very lively and energetic and soon had the girls -and boys- screaming, and bouncing around (except poor me with spine injury)...Anyway, on with the CD review - for the rest of this live review go here

Back home, I decided to do some research, found the website etc, and downloaded some Mp3's. I was really impressed with these, even though they were just demos. The tracks were all very upbeat; great guitar riffs, really good horn breaks, and the lyrics were really catchy, so had me singing along in no time (including my own horn sound effects).

All of the tracks that I got are great, with my favourites being 'If You Go My Way' and 'Black Sheep Generator', as the chorus' in these are especially catchy, with good backup vocals, and the horns in them are really strong (is that the word?!)

Being a pauper, I haven't yet bought the CD, but I've ordered it from my local alt music store, so I should pick it up soon - so I'll be able to review the proper versions. I strongly recommend this EP, I love the versions that I've heard, and the only disappointment was that some of their other great tracks - 'My Favourite Shirt' 'Empty Tank' and 'Higher Ground' - aren't on there.