JD Simo – Off At 11

JD Simo

Off At 11

(Crows Feet)

Our man Simo returns with a new album in his name. His last release with the trio Simo was soaked in what is best termed psychedelic soul, his fluid and skybound guitar riffing to the fore. He is a love-totin’ hippy at heart, so his recordings tend to eschew what might be fashionable and aim at certain ambiences and atmospherics which liberate the players straight to free expression. In the wrong hands this approach can be the swift route to indulgent rambling, but like Magpie Salute the artist here is too refined to fall too far into that trap. Will The Groundhogs recordings I have gifted Simo have seeped into his style yet? I must press play to find out…

Opener Boom Boom, Out Go The Lights throws the listener straight into the soul-drenched style that JD delivers. Wild slide guitar leaps out of the speakers as this very dark rendition rolls along. The emphatic drums have a manic streak and the bass digs deep. Cool stuff!

Off at 11 the title track is all tension and slashing guitar motifs..and VERY evocative of Live At The Fillmore by the Allmans. Waspish wah guitar slinks around the track, sparking into harmonics and pinched notes. The rhythm guys use all the freedom they have had thrown upon them, the beat never settles here. On to You Need Love and it’s not the Muddy Waters tune but a Simo and band original. The energy just bursts out of the walloping beat and the vocal delivery seems spooked, this being the lad’s own version of voodoo. There’s no stopping that liquid slide! Suddenly the outfit are back in Allmans/Charlie Daniels mode for the fade…

Next up – I Got Love If You Want It, a song older than a Tommy Emmanuel joke and the second harp number I ever learned, from Slim Harpo. Here it gets the stabbing wah treatment. Simo sings it straight with a steady forcefulness and it sounds fine.

Temptation is another original and a very moody, shadowy piece it is, too. Filmic in its early hours vibe with a well-judged soul vocal and syncopated arrangement and UniVibed edgy guitar, the song sort of takes you over. A key moment here and with an impassioned axe break that heads skywards.

Mind Trouble has an unmistakable Tom Waits/John Hammond ramshackle beat, so much that you almost expect either of them to start singing. It’s a good interlude in the programme and gets the toes tapping. A run of reverse delay splurges into the mix. The ghost of Elvis Presley looks down and smiles. Then we are straight into what sounds like Portishead (Dummy era) pleading out a BB King number. This is a take on Sweet Little Angel, indeed. Even this has Simo’s touch and reverb a-plenty. 

Finally, Accept sets sail on a sinister bass figure that could be an Experience outtake Simo holding back on the guitar till the beat is rolling in a Willie Dixon mode. Meantime the drums are ever busier, then a guitar excursion happens, pent up power unleashed, feedback seeping in and out…

An album of power, bite and most of all …freedom.

Pete Sargeant