The new single from Django Jones And The Mystery Men starts accordingly to the Hitchcock principle of making a good movie: first an earthquake and the tension slowly rise. Imagine this. A wide shot of a busy, trendy London eatery. It’s evening time, all of the tables are taken, people talk and eat quietly. You can hear the sound of plates being moved and utensils used. Two people are sitting by a nicely dressed table, on a date. Their faces are half hidden in the shadows. The mood is right. The food served is exquisite. They talk. And then suddenly, one of them say: “I don’t even like Weezer!” “Who doesn’t like Weezer?” shouts the other person in an absolute disbelief. Everyone around them look at the first person with a mixture of horror and disgust on their faces. A moment of silence. And then the listener is hit with a deafening wall of distorted guitars.
Django Jones and The Mystery Men photo by Nicole Hasoon
Official bio: Django Jones and the Mystery Men are a post-punk band from Sheffield. Drawing inspiration from The White Stripes and Idles their style embraces energy in excess whilst maintaining a forceful rhythm. The reverberating drums and driving guitars perfectly mirror the upbeat and lighthearted tones of their tracks, at the same time capturing the unrestrained energy synonymous with Django’s music. The band is now back with their second single – “Date Night at Joey’s”. Initially written by Frontman Will and Guitarist Joe, the song acts as a mocking telling of their friendship, layering stupidity and flamboyance with sincerity.
I think I have mentioned before that I absolutely fell in love with Django Jones upon hearing their debut single “Bad For You” in December last year. It was one of those lovely moments that all music journalists want to experience every single time we open an email to listen to a new song sent to us for review. I love crazy, strong, guitar heavy tracks with a proper rhythm section and interesting vocals. And Django Jones had it all. I have written a review for the song here if you care to read it, and I said that I can’t wait for their next release. Well, luckily for me, “Date Night At Joey’s” was released exactly 10 days ago, on the 7th of April and I’m happy to announce that it’s as good as their first release. I’m a bit tempted to admit that it might even be a tiny bit better than “Bad For You” because they added a great reference to the classic tune “Mickey” by Toni Basil (in this case changed to “Hey Joey”) at the end of the song.
“Date Night At Joey’s” single cover by Tass Drobinski
“Date Night At Joey’s” stands at 3 minutes and 17 seconds. It starts with the spoken intro about somebody not liking Weezer which I find hilariously funny. Then, off the bat, without a word of warning, the sound goes from 0 to 11, the guitars explode and there is no mercy. It’s like being in a car that goes incredibly fast downhill without its brakes on. It makes you feel like your brain crashes into the back of your skull and you have to grab something to stay upright. Cool feeling, really nice!
What surprises me a bit, is that many reviewers are trying to convince readers these days, that every new band is somehow reinventing rock and roll. This is not what Django Jones is all about. They are not here to come up with a brand-new rock subgenre or mix some unknown or obscure sounds into a unique sonic tapestry that will baffle music critics 40 years from now. On the contrary – Django Jones play a classic rock and roll – late 80’s meets the 90’s rock revival kind of music, if anybody is after a more technical specification. They do not pretend that they are into prog rock or art rock or some artsy-fartsy rock incarnation that only a handful of academics may have heard of. And that’s the joy of what they do – they play fun, upbeat, accessible, ear candy type of rock that’s always in fashion. Kind of like Continental Lovers do, without the glam rock bit. Django Jones are more 1990’s Phish, early Weezer (sic!), Everclear, The Nixons, Cracker, definitely American rock inspired. They would do really well on the American college radio airwaves. I’m not sure if the reviewers (will not be naming any names) that put them into postpunk category have actually listened to them at all – they are not a postpunk band. They might say that they are inspired by IDLES, but this is not IDLES type of music. They do not sound anything like Joy Division either. They are actually the total opposite of Joy Division – Django Jones are funny, self-deprecating, a bit silly in a charming way. There is not an ounce of despair in their music. And that’s why their music speaks to me at this moment. I’m just tired to the back teeth of post punk bands, there are many, many of them coming out of the wood work this second, mostly thanks to the lovely work the Tories are doing. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a bit of post punk, but too much of one thing means a serious indigestion. Not everything has to be advertised as being revolutionary, playing good music within a well-established genre takes a lot of skill and is harder than it looks. I actually have much more respect for bands such as Django Jones who are carving their own path without looking at other bands.
In my opinion, Django Jones And The Mystery Men are an excellent, emerging band that plays classic, 90’s inspired rock music. They kick ass, play well, and have a proper moral spine – they refused to play at a venue who booked convicted abuser Tom Meighan recently. And for that, they have my undying support. Making great music is one thing but being proper human beings is more important than anything else.
Hats off to the band and well done on their stance and the new single. The kids are all right indeed.
“Date Night at Joe’s” was produced by Stephen Harrison, mastered by Grant Berry. It is out on independent release since 7th of April 2023.
Please follow the band online at:
https://www.facebook.com/WhoIsDjango
https://twitter.com/djangojonesatmm
https://www.instagram.com/djangojonesandthemysterymen/
https://soundcloud.com/django-jones-860718862
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2phoKMMMDVtunW9h5pHOYl
https://www.tiktok.com/@djangojonesatmm
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 