27/11/2006 CJ & The Satellites @ the Water Rats

Subject	CJ @ the Water Rats
PostedDate	11/27/2006
	This should be an interesting gig. I like to check out all the WiLDHEARTS offshoot bands, and they've all been good.  This is the second Wildhearts related band I've seen at the Water Rats as I saw the Yo-Yo's here too. CJ was in Honeycrack after the Wildhearts split up the first time, and I was never a great fan of theirs - I didn't really get into their album. After the Wildhearts first split CJ formed The Jellies who I thought were a terrific live band, although I was less keen on how their recorded work sounded. I heard some of CJ's new stuff on MySpace and was impressed. I was surprised how unlike The Jellies it sounded - far more polished and commercial with more lead guitar. A good sound and good songs too. This gig at the Water Rats seemed to be deliberately low profile as far as promotion and hype went - so I wondered how many people would actually be at the show? I knew that quite a few people I know would be there so it would be a good night anyway.  I arrived at the Water Rats to find it pretty full - plenty of familiar faces as expected - including Lee from Zen Motel who is currently playing bass in CJ's band. The first band on tonight's bill were the punkish female fronted Fuck Off Machete. I gave them a try for a couple of songs but just simply didn't think they were very good, so I went back to the front bar.  The next band provided one or two surprises - Big Jim And The Sindies. With their long lanky hair and zipped up black leather motorcyle jackets they look just like an 80's thrash metal band - one of them even plays a black Gibson Explorer. However, they sound nothing like they look - with their clean guitar tones this sounds just like a 50's or early 60's rock 'n' roll band! They play tightly and sound great - a real breath of fresh air after all the cliched 80's glam/sleaze clone bands I've seen this year. After a few songs Big Jim announces that he's getting a bit hot onstage and is going to take his jacket off - this sounds a bit cliched and is a familiar part of many band's acts. However, Jim takes off his jacket to reveal a black lace bra - containing  four miniture bottles of Baileys! He proceeds to distribute these bottles to the crowd, puts his guitar back on and gets on with the show. Later in the set glasses of wine are produced on a silver salver - also to be distributed to the crowd.  A nice touch and a memorable show. Free booze is always good, but alcohol gimicks aside the music was very good too - I'll certainly be watching out for this band again. Judging by the enthusistic crowd reaction others think the same. Their guitar sound may be clean - but this band ROCK!  The venue is pretty full and well warmed up by the time CJ and The Satellites take to the stage. There are a couple of familiar faces apart from CJ in the band - Lee from Zen Motel on bass and ex-3 Colours Red man Paul Grant on second guitar.  The band play well and the songs are good. The crowd lap it up and CJ is on good form. This is nothing like The Jellies though, but at times both the vocals and the guitar work sound quite familiar to the many Wildhearts fans present - hardly surprising really. Some of the songs are familiar from CJ's MySpace page - it's all good stuff. Instead of his usual Gibson, CJ is playing a silver vaguely Les Paul styled Framus guitar - I am wondering if there is some sort of endorsement deal going on as there are also Framus amplifier stacks on stage - something I've never seen before and I'm sure they aren't cheap.  However, CJ's very familiar sticker covered Gibson 335 Lucille makes an appearance later in the set.  All in all it's good night, and a very encouraging taster for CJ's forthcoming album.