By: David de Young
 |
|
Lucky Jeremy performed Friday night at First Avenue opening for the Rapture - photo by David de Young (click for full size)
|
Earlier in the day while perusing Har Mar Superstar's summer of 2003 photos on his website for a photo to accompany the mini-interview I did with him in the week, I stumbled on a few pictures of "Lucky" Jeremy Allen. In addition to a long-standing solo career, Allen was the keyboard player for Sean Na Na, the band fronted by Har Mar's "brother"/alter-ego Sean Tillman. Allen accompanied Har Mar for part of his UK tour this summer and is seen in a couple photos wearing an "Is St. Paul really necessary?" t-shirt,which strikes me as a really funny thing to do in England.
Lucky Jeremy and the New Minneapolis deliver music from the un-adulterated heart of rock and roll. (Think The Replacements, or more recently The Rakes.) It's also obvious that this is one hard working bunch of musicians that takes making music seriously.
Folks really didn't start showing up until about halfway through the set. Allen joked about this early on saying that since there weren't very many people there yet they were playing all their crappy songs first. Despite this self-deprecation, the entire set was solid, even if the first half was crowd-challenged.
Joining me in the front row of the growing throng was Ciaran Daly, on-hand to his credit since his band the Idle Hands were due to headline the Uptown Bar later that evening. (Daly's Idle Hands will be on an upcoming bill with Lucky Jeremy, along with Luke's Angels and Signal and Report on December 5th at the 7th Street Entry.)
 |
|
Grant Johnson (left) and "Lucky" Jeremy Allen
|
However you cut it, Lucky Jeremy is a band worth seeing. Enjoyable musically, their stage presence is solid and neither underwhelms nor gets in your face. Baby Grant Johnson, in granny glasses, on second lead guitar added an element of studiousness stage right. Matt Jenkins on bass in baseball hat and jersey reminded you that this band has its roots firmly planted in the garage. And Jeremy, dressed in newish blue jeans and a t-shirt over a long-underwear shirt, had a piece of duct tape taped to his chest that said, "Buy my record."
That new record, "Call It What You Want…But This City is Mine" (2003, Heart of a Champion) is a great, easy and fun to listen to album and one you should buy. "Watch me jam this shit," Allen says in one of the many little spoken song intros. There's a cool, rocking confidence all over this well-produced disk. It's as if Allen found that perfect place in rock and roll halfway in between Ballroom Blitz era Sweet and Jane's Addiction, and added to it his own scratchy passion and intensity.
Hell even the song titles are refreshing. Check out "Harlem Burned for Your Shuffle," "Your Schtick is Inspiring," or "Ride that Fucking Wave, Brooklyn."
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Lucky Jeremy
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus