XXX Records America

A nostalgic CD,  and now it has  enormously cult status. The pride of Sacramento, California native VAMP LE STAT gives fans  a re-release of their legendary debut album  “Blood Line” from 1993. At that time, equipped with only six songs, this underground classic is now 18 years old,  and in terms of presentation and sound it is still quite impressive. But let us start with the actual songs…

It’s initiated by an atmospheric intro, roars the opener ‘Madame Blue’ in a very straightforward manner from the speakers. Armed with a catchy chorus, perched here above all the vocal power of a Jimmy Tuttle.  Then ‘Swing Child’ fits perfectly into that 90-sound, sounding as good as  SKID ROW, BON JOVI MÖTLEY CRÜE . Anthemic and dirty is  ‘Bitch’ , a piece which was burning at that time just waiting to be thrown into the halls of the world. Cheesy and in the best Guns’n ROSES-style. Lighters are eventually elevated to ‘She’s Not In Love Anymore’, before the quartet begin with ‘Guns 4 Hire’ moving like  an immense train, highlighted with a double bass rhythm.. A celebration for every hard-rocker. ‘Chain Around My Heart’ ends “Bloodline” again with a powerful chorus.

You can argue  over the meaning and the nonsense of such re-releases. But the fact  that XXX Records honored these underground heroes the opportunity to play again in the ears and hearts of glam rockers. At least for me, the Californians were successful with that endeavor, …the five additional bonus tracks on the re-release  is a nice feature, . Anyway, great record, great songs and a sadly underrated band.

Playing tips: Madame Blue, Guns 4 Hire

Rating: 8.5 / 10 ( see also Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire, Rockhard, Jeff Jones)

The original release of VAMP LE STAT’s “Bloodline” EP was marred by unfortunate timing. By 1993, the world had already forgotten about Metal, . Grunge was in, Metal was out, and suddenly an EP like “Bloodline,” which would’ve moved quite a few units back in 1987. XXX Records has seen fit to give the band a second chance by re-releasing “Bloodline,” long since out of print, this time with five bonus tracks.

…Tracks like “Swing Child” and “Bitch” are  Glam songs, possibly a teensy bit heavier than SLAUGHTER and other stuff you’d find on the radio. .., and the opener on “Bloodline,” “Madame Blue,” sounds very much like LED ZEPPELIN would’ve sounded like if they had ever made   a Glam album

The best track on the EP is “She’s Not In Love Anymore,” a heartfelt acoustic ballad. It’s a calm, well-executed song that probably would’ve got some decent airplay had it been released during the height of the Glam explosion. “Guns 4 Hire” is pretty decent too, showing a faster side of the band ala DOKKEN’s “Tooth And Nail.”  (June 2011)  See also Rockhard, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire)

Jeff Jones is, as you might know, not only the label head of XXX Records but also a former member of melodic hard rock outfit St. Elmo’s Fire, hair metallers Vamp Le Stat and punk/trash duo Keester. Besides recording and releasing albums with the bands mentioned he put out a first solo offering entitled “Ride” in 1995.

Last year mister Jones found the time to piece together the follow up to his 15 year old solo debut and along with copies of “Rockhard ‘86-‘96” and VLS “Bloodline”, he sent us “Spaced”, a collection of 12 songs all written, recorded, produced, mixed and engineered by Jeff. Which goes to show that we’re dealing with a multi talented musician. The one thing that stands out on this disc is Jeff’s tasty blues tinged guitar  .
Best songs in the package are the ZZ Top styled opener “Queen Of Hollywood” and the uptempo “Not Your Love”. (see also Vamp Le Stat, Rockhard, Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire)

You may not know the name Jeff Jones, but really you should. ‘Spaced’ is an album that captures your attention with its down and dirty sound which feels that it could have been laid down in late eighties Hollywood.
I like this from the off. Opener ‘Queen of Hollywood’ comes over all Georgia Satellites crammed into a sleazy Hollywood backroom bar.  What you get here reads pretty authentically, you can feel the dirt under the fingernails and if it wasn’t for the brief taste of glamour in the LA sleaze influence you could be at any rock bar in America at anytime in the last thirty years! Its good old fashioned, nicely crafted rock and roll that both tips a hat to the seventies British greats, adds a pinch of AC/DC and a whole heap of late eighties Sunset Strip attitude.

Stylistically it’s hard sleazy rock but with a sound that echoes the bluesier acts of the day. The closest comparison I could suggest especially on songs like ‘No Satisfaction Blues’ and ‘Hell to Pay’ would be a Junkyard or Great White. Elsewhere you can feel the shadow of more metallic bands like Dokken.

Best for us are opener ‘Queen of Hollywood’ and ‘Not Your Love’, which has a feel of early LA Guns to it and maybe a hint of Phil Lewis’ work in the underappreciated Torme. The test of a good CD is how long it stays in the car and this has been in there since it arrived. It’s great to hear music of this quality put together by a musician on his own label.

Anyone who loves the late eighties Hollywood but loved the bluesier side will get a lot out of this. Nothing groundbreaking but it evokes the feeling of an age some of us can’t let go, and which produced some great bands! I for one would love to hear more.! 
(by Mark Diggins) June 2011 (See also Rockhard, Keester, Vamp le Stat, St. Elmo’s Fire)

North American guitarist Jeff Jones, known for having participated in bands such as St. Elmo’s Fire or Vamp Le stat, has created his own record label recently. This is XXX Records,  with which he has decided to publish material of diverse groups in which it participated and Jeff also has two works of his solo career.

On this occasion, has published “Spaced,” a sonic cocktail of twelve songs of pure rock and roll. Somehow, the music (and especially the image) of Jeff in the “Spaced” is quite similar to the famous Ted Nugent. American Rock with enough melody and at times their Southern accents. “Queen of Hollywood” is a perfect opening for this great album, track by track is going so great. “Resurrecting” at times has an affinity for bands such as THE Guns. Another high point of the album is “Not your love.”

In conclusion, note that this is a great album of pure rock and roll, where Jeff composes, sings and plays it all,, giving free rein to his infinite creativity. Recommended for all lovers of rock without compromise. (See also Rockhard, Keester, Vamp Le stat, St. Elmo’s Fire)

The advent of the internet and the breakup of the once de facto monopoly that a few labels had on the market has come a host of new and old, all out there for anyone fed up with the lackluster and tired content of FM radio. Among the old is a face that many will not recognize today, but whose history goes all the way back to the 1970s. For all of the plainness that one might expect from a name like JEFF JONES, this former 70s/Glam rocker has put together a pretty solid collection of Hard Rock that stylistically resembles his older projects, but has the benefit and clarity of a modern production job.

Combining a fair amount of old guard British influences from the likes of DEEP PURPLE, a subtle trace of AD/DC, and a whole lot of LA sleaze, “Spaced” is quite a fun,  tried and true ride down memory lane. When hearing safely crafted rockers such as “No Satisfaction Blues” and “Miss Tragedy”, one can’t help but take note of the obvious MOTLEY CRUE and GREAT WHITE influences. Things get kicked up a notch in aggression with “Hate Me”, which is heavy enough to qualify as one of DOKKEN’S nastier songs during their brief stint into groovier Heavy Metal circa 2002-2004. But the true highlight of this glory fest of Hard Rock orthodoxy is “Not Your Love”, which cooks with the intensity of early 80s JUDAS PRIEST, though the vocal attack out of Jones has a bit more grit than banshee to it.

Jones has put together a solid collection of catchy songs with some accomplished lead work that just manages to get out of the olden blues box that Jimmy Page never fully abandoned and that Blackmore and Uli Jon Roth were among the first to really step out of. There is definitely an added charm to the fact that this is an independently realized product, put together by a musician on his own label, which was all but unheard of during Jones’ earliest work. Anyone who fell in love with that segment of the 80s Glam scene that was a bit more conservative and stuck close to their Rock roots will definitely get some mileage out of this. Yeah, it’s been done before, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done again a few more times in a couple of other ways.

(Online June 5, 2011) see also Rockhard,  Keester, St. Elmo’s Fire, Vamp Le Stat

JEFF JONES is a compulsive worker ,I mean for example, all the  studio and live albums released either solo or within VAMP LE STAT , ST. ELMO’S FIRE. KEESTER and JJ JONASSON ). Here I am reviewing  one of his last solo productions, his 2010 “Spaced” CD on his XXX RECORDS label..

Armed with his Gibson guitar, JEFF JONES composed, performed and recorded the totality of Spaced ,  twelve titles based on his Hard-Rock , Roots-Rock style . This opus is listened to easily, and listening to it I think of crossing the great American west with this superb collection of car songs (a`convertible maybe!) So why not  the great French west as well!?! I dream, I digress…) Just listen  to  “Spaced” and discover this beautiful and honest album!

! (June 2011) See also St. Elmo’s Fire, Vamp Le Stat, Keester, Rockhard)

You Ought to get ‘Spaced’ out !
After having reviewed guitarist, songwriter and producer, Jeff Jones’ album ‘RockHard’ , I was so eager to hear out more of his music. And I did. We got hold of his album called ‘Spaced’, which undoubtedly, is a completely awesome Hard Rock haven, yet again.
The album got off to an excellent start with ‘Queen of Hollywood’, which began with a cool Rock n Roll riff. Excellent vocals, and a completely balanced track. Sounded like a power ballad of the 80s era. PERFECT is the word. ‘No Satisfaction Blues’ gave me a taste of the Scorpions, AC/ DC, a bit of Def Leppard too.This song sounded like it was influenced from a hell lot of bands. But I’m much a fan now of the riffs and the rhythm section of this album. ‘Hell To pay’ was a bit different from the previous tracks, with a dominating heavy riff, though with lesser variety in the vocals.

All of us Rock fanatics surely miss the riffs of the 70’s and 80’s, with not many bands belting out such styles, but its so good to have artists like Jeff who are capable of producing those headbanging hard riffs all over again. Moving on to the next track, ‘Addiction’, and just again, another bloody damn COOL riff. Not only the riff but the mixing and mastering of these tracks are absolutely perfect. I had to hit the Play button again and again on this one !

The drums and bass were the highlights in ‘Resurrecting’, while the track ‘Control’ finally had an intro with the bass, and the overall rhythm was powerfully controlled by the bassist. Now this riff reminded me of Deep Purple. Reaching the next one called ‘Not your love’, I could surely say the style is changing, with the band putting a lot more variety in the album. Even the guitar solo really matched with the song title!

‘Hate me’ had a metal sounding riff unlike others, and in ‘Miss tragedy’, sometimes I could feel a Def leppard style in the vocals and also a lot of inspiration. But its good to have a return of power ballads. Moving further to ‘Bad motor girl’, I personally was looking for a ‘clean’ track, maybe on the acoustic. So it got a bit bore for me, but nevertheless, the mind blowing riffs kept me going !

‘Bad Love’ pretty much was the best riff of this album for me. This riff was a lot original and creative. The album finally ended well with ‘Underground’, with a good job done on the drums, though the distortion could have been a bit low I suppose.

Summing up, except missing out on an acoustic track, this album is ‘Riff-fully’ amazing ! You just CANNOT miss out on these power packed riffs. It was like a journey back in time to the Rock n Roll era of our idols: Deep Purple, AC/DC and Def Leppard to mention a few.
Your neck would pain at the end. Trust me. It’s wilder than you think.  (See also Rockhard, Spaced , St. Elmo’s Fire, Keester, Vamp Le Stat

The band’s name Keester, an American slang term for “ass,” and is  the band ofVAMP LE STAT-musicians Bret “Flash” Blackburn , and Jeff Jones on guitar,

But what makes the typical keester sound, anyway? On a total of twelve tracks of their self-titled debut work are the typical feel-good songs, coupled with distinctive, memorable riffs and a neat portion college pop-punk that really catches your ear.

Usually in the mid-tempo side, Brett sings ‘Get It Again’, ‘Nothing At All’ and the hard rock-heavy “I Like It This Way , and with’ Stand Beside You ‘ a soft-punk number that takes control. Then the album speeds up a little with songs like  ‘Let’s Get High’ , which would be perfect on the soundtrack of any college-teen-movie !.

But at least here you notice the structure of the songs: Quiet verses with  catchy choruses before the verses gain the upper hand again after that. This pattern runs through the entire debut disc.

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Playing tips: Get It Again, Lets Get High

See also Rockhard, Jeff Jones, Spaced, St. Elmo’s Fire

Jeff Jones is a guitarist Californian who has worked on various projects since the early eighties. Perhaps the best known among fans is St. Elmo’s Fire,  in which the group released four albums  that  have become objects of worship. After that, he formed another band called Vamp Le Stat, well directed to the sleaze. After that in the mid-nineties he reunited with his former partner, drummer Bret Blackburn, in a new project called Keester.

Keester is much more aimed at the punk sound with some hard rock tones and more modern styles. It’s quite strange but the mix can go from bands like Weezer to Motorhead. It means that the result is an entertaining album well representing  all of these styles, which comes to light only in 2010 thanks to XXX Records, from  the label’s very own Jeff Jones.

“Get It Again” is  a declaration of intent of what you hear during the rest of the album. Rock uncompromising riffs simple but infectious  that will delight fans of punk power in the mid-nineties. .., the songs can be heard very well. Another highlight is “Let’s Get High” theme moved pretty much like Ramones. Recommended.