Jack SlamerJack Slamer

Jack Slamer is the second and self-titled album from Winterthur-based rock band Jack Slamer. The Swiss five-piece formed in 2012 and have an undoubted commitment to harnessing the sound of 1970s classic rock.

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While Jack Slamer opens with a pretty down-the-line, energetic rock number Turn Down the Light, and introduced the album with the first single The Biggest Mane of a similar vein, there is a lot more to this self-titled album. Jack Slamer has successfully tapped into the vintage-rock formula of catchy riff-laden but overall lyrically driven songs.

While there is little that is strikingly innovative, it uses the classic rock ingredients perfectly.

In Entire Force, the nostalgic quality of Florian Ganz’s voice really stands out, and in the tangibly raw track The Wanted Man the memorable vocal lines run smoothly over a punchy rhythm section intro. The vintage influences seep through the hypnotic riffs of The Truth Is Not a Headline, which is lyrically an interesting theme and works quite powerfully with the slower pace and drawn out, sparse but silky guitar solo. There are a number of much slower paced tracks that lure the listener in with poetic lyrics and well-crafted song structure, such as the bass-led track There’s No Way Back and Secret Land.

Jack Slamer quite apparently embraces the vintage rock revival but the sound itself is bright, crisp and modern. While there is little that is strikingly innovative, it uses the classic rock ingredients perfectly. Jack Slamer is a solid ‘modern vintage’ rock album that has captured that elusive sense of abandon that makes for convincing ‘vintage’ rock.

STANDOUT TRACKS: The Wanted Man, The Truth Is Not A Headline, There’s No Way Back
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