Track Listing:

1. Take Your Dead Ass Home [3.24]
2. Where Are We Tonight? [3.17]
3. Release The Hounds [2.44]
4. I’m Going To Hell [4.00]
5. Don’t F*ck With Roger [2.33]

First impressions are important in the music world. So forgive me for being a little apprehensive about listening to this upon reading the opening line of the correspondence accompanying the CD: “Throw that other shit on your desk out & play track 1.” The letter then goes on to swear seven more times, which to some, only acts as an advantage.

The CD is the original J. Edgar Hoova EP, and acts a decent preview to a possible album later in the day. Not knowing what to expect, I flung the CD into the player and checked this guy out. It’s certainly not the music you’d expect the 29th president of America to adjust to, but you never know. First thing you’ll notice about the opening track – it’s loud. Rather loud indeed. Heavy drumming, deeply distorted guitar and a hint of echo on the booming vocals. “Where Are We Tonight?” is similar to the first track, with a significant difference – a little bit of brass. Which doesn’t sound bad, and has a good beat. “Release The Hounds” follows the pattern of echoic vocals and distortion, but that brass line gets a bit trickier! It has to be said the brass sounds a bit out of place, but appears to work as it only appears in small doses. Having said that, there’s no brass at all on “I’m Going To Hell”, which is rather jammed with “Woo-hoo”s and general shouts like “Oh yes! Hell!” etc. Finally, we end with “Don’t Fuck With Roger”; yes, it does sound pleasant. This is “Roger”, the band that J Edgar Hoova belonged to before getting his own lot, and they’re very similar in styles. To get a good idea of this sound, imagine White Stripes. But faster. And a bit more insane.

If I’m honest, the album doesn’t sound bad, but the sound of each song bears sparkling resemblance to every other song on the album. What does sound peculiar is that tracks 2-5 have what sounds like a canned crowd in the background. Being brutally honest, the whooping and cheering crowd don’t sound like they’re there at all. Whether or not that was the intention, can’t be proven, but it doesn’t actually say on the CD that it is live, so maybe it’s some clever ploy by the Hoova. Nevertheless, this album boasts strong stuff for J. Edgar; and his lot certainly don’t sound like amateurs. A full album on the way? Possibly.

Band Members:
J Edgar Hoova (Vocals)
Tito Apostle (Guitar)
Naste Le Jaster (Bass)
Drummer (Drums)

Rating Out of 10: