KEEPING UP

Jonesy´s second work was released less than an year after their first, but it represented a total shift from style. And line up too. And the most important was the inclusion of Alan Bown on trumpet and flugelhorn. Guitarrist John Evan Jones and keyboardist were the only ones left from the outfit that recorded No Alternative a few months before, now with Jones brother Trevor `Gypsy` joining back on bass and recruiting new drummer Plug Thomas. The result was so different they might as well have changed their name! Instead of the fairly common hard rock/heavy prog of No Alternative, they now have a quite eclectic colletion of songs that were much more progressive, with some interesting jazz, funk and psychodelic leanings. You have to admire their nerve to make such movement.

Although I can hardly say this album is a masterpiece or essential, it is still very good. Far from perfect, as long as songwriting is concerned, the tunes were nevertheless quite bold and inventive. Those new experiments produced some fine songs (masquerade, Questions And Answers) that mixed wah wah guitars, funky bass, mellotron waves, Miles Davies-like trumpet and complex vocal harmonies. Other tracks were less succesful, like the long (9 minute), weird (and annoying) Critique. The beautiful instrumental Preview is just too short, a real shame. Children is an interesting epic ballad with an odd middle part and has its moments of greatness. Song and Sunshine And Evening Star sound good, but a bit unfinished. Production here is much better than their debut. Even the vocals are much superior here .

Keeping Up was a good surprise and showed that this group had skillful players, the songwriting was getting better and they were on the way to create a quite unique music. I´m really curious about their third album. Rating: with all its faults, a very good (transitional) album: 3,5 stars.