Railroad Jerk “Railroad Jerk”

sfilzen — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:02:31 +0000

Railroad Jerk “Railroad Jerk” 1990. Matador Records. Hard-driving, catchy punk blues. “Industrial folk” according to their Discogs description. Their s/t record was the first of four LP’s before disbanding around 1996. We saw Railroad Jerk open for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in ’95 (I think) at the Barrymore in Madison. I have no idea what tracks they performed 30 years ago but likely one or two from this record. The weird “Krismus Time” is the most JSBX-like (though it predates that band) and the band’s “theme song” – “Talking RR Jerk Blues” – comes in a close second with a slow head-banging groove, harmonica and disjointed melodies; just replace singer/guitarist Marcellus Hall’s nasaly vocals with Spencer’s deeper yelp ‘n growl and it could totally have been on one JSBX’s early LP’s. My top tracks are the first two on Side 1 “Don’t Be Jealous” and “Old Mill Stream” (catchy, bluesy punk) and one Side 2 the killer ass-shaking “Participant.”

For whatever reason, Railroad Jerk isn’t really available broken down by tracks (except for “Talking RR Jerk Blues”) but you can listen to the entire album here and there a full show recording from a 1990 show at the Pyramid Club in New York City where they perform several songs from the album including “Don’t Be Jealous,” “99 Miles,” “Old Mill Stream,” “Participant,” “Glamorous Bitch,” “Krismus Time,” “Talking RR Jerk Blues,” and “I’m Not Mad.”

The post Railroad Jerk “Railroad Jerk” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Railroad Jerk “The Third Rail”

sfilzen — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 21:03:26 +0000

Railroad Jerk “The Third Rail” 1996. Matador Records. We bought this, their fourth release, and previous releases after seeing Railroad Jerk open for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin in either 1996 or 1997. Great show! (I cannot remember if we met the members of RJ when we went backstage after the show to chat with Judah from JSBX.)

I was in grad school for history at the time and many of my classmates were in the library science program. I got a few of them into this band because of this album’s last track, “Sweet Librarian.”

Sweet librarian, what good books can you recommend?

Sweet librarian, do you think that we could still be friends

After everything that we’ve been through,

Your books on time and mine overdue?

I can’t help it if I have a cough.

What days do you have off?

This is probably the first time I’ve listened to Railroad Jerk in over 15 years and I’m enjoying the sparse sound, clever and often hilarious lyrics as well as its funkin’ bluesy power pop vibe. The Third Rail was Railroad Jerk’s last official release and they broke up in the late 90’s.

The post Railroad Jerk “The Third Rail” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

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Railroad Jerk “Railroad Jerk”

Railroad Jerk “The Third Rail”