Jakkpot

Always Bet on Black (Royalty)
by Jon Sarre

Not being one to insult a buncha obviously older than yer school punks, more than a few listens into Jakkpot‘s new disc, Always Bet On Black, I’m still not sure if this whole thing isn’t a joke of some kind (maybe cuz they complicated things a bit by starting the record off with the misguidedly anthemic “Burnin’ in ’77” and wrapping it up with an always ill-advised cover of “Clash City Rockers,” not to mention including a song called “Safetyblades and Razor Pins” and another one called “Rokkers,” tho’ the chorus “We’re the assholes from Jakkpot, baby” on “Nobody Wanted Us” is truly inspired. These Balto-yobs’ obsession with punk rock culture is either a bald admission that there just ain’t nothing to sing about these days ‘cept bullshit peripheral pettiness involving insiders vs outsiders (the old “you poseur” debate) and the hegemonic struggle for “cred,” or it’s just the way they tip their hand to clue you in that “This is Spinal Tap, Punk,” but, whatever, ya still chuckle when singer Rude A rasps “You ain’t shit” while the rest of the band chimes in with “I got a leather jacket.”

So it’s dumbass sincerity (as in, we stand behind every haircut we’ve ever had) or a parody, or maybe a parody being parodied, or self-parody, or something like that. There’s a pot song (“End of My Rope”) that rips-off the ancient “Parchman Farm,” so somebody’s also a blues scholar or something. Elsewhere, the plain-speak of the high school slut ode called “Young and Dumb” (“She’s so young and dumb, fucking dumb”) is dead on, ‘cept I figure these guys’ve been outta school for I dunno, a long time (maybe they’re goin’ for that audience, could be worse). And why are the playing cards on the album cover of the large print variety anyway?
(176 Madison Ave. 4th Fl. New York, NY 10016)