ALBUM REVIEW: The Jack Knives – Negative Spaces (Fumie Records/SBAM)
The Jack Knives are a melodic punk band from Orange County CA, and this is their fourth album, all released by independent Californian label Fumie Records.
Formed in 2018, they take their name from a line in The Gaslight Anthem song The Diamond Church Street Choir, and TGA are clearly a huge influence, along with the likes of Social Distortion.
They seem to have a lot to say: Negative Spaces is their fourth album in as many years, following 2023’s debut For The Lovers. For The Fighters, 2024’s breakout Ghost Radio and last year’s Into The Night.
They’ve had a couple of personnel changes along the way, with the line-up now consisting of British-born frontman Si Short on vocals and rhythm guitar, Faris ‘Dragon’ Muhtaseb on lead guitar, Bryan ‘Brooce’ Lee on bass and Drew Baker on drums.
The Jack Knives play what I’d describe as blue collar punk rock, full of working class storytelling, blending energetic melodies with heartfelt lyrics and big choruses, all delivered with a hefty emotional punch.
Negative Spaces takes the romantic American ideal of cruising down the highway in an open-top car with your girl by your side without a care in the world and turns a harsh spotlight on it. Their self-styled “punk rock for adults” has influences from classic rock, Americana, and heartland rock, with themes of resilience and personal struggle.
Opener One Eleven, one of three pre-release singles, shines a spotlight on the America people grew up believing in versus the country a lot of them actually experience as they just try to survive.
It sets out their stall out from the start, and they don’t let up over the course of 10 tracks which grab you by the lapels and demand to be listened to. Driving guitars, a locked-in rhythm section and heartfelt vocals are The Jack Knives’ stock-in-trade, along with big choruses which live in your head for days.
La Sirena, one of the first songs shared, namechecks Lucero, Sam Cooke and The Menzingers, and captures the feeling of finding hope amid chaos and being pulled back from the edge by love, connection, and belief in something greater than yourself. It sounds huge, and there’s plenty more where that came from.
St Marks starts gently before coming to life in one of those big choruses that The Jack Knives do so well, while The Lights slows things down and channels their inner Bruce Springsteen.
Acoustic guitar and subtle piano drive Glory Or Fame? which is about finding hope in community, and holding onto people who remind you that you’re not walking through life alone.
Late Nights In London, another single, is an upbeat song about falling in love, and one of the album’s many highlights. Cigarettes and Troubadours, featuring a spoken word part by Tom May of The Menzingers, slows things down again, using space to let the throbbing bassline breathe before the chugging guitar kicks in.
Marissa picks up the pace once more in a typical tale of driving through the night to be with your girl, before Union Pacific Car 5875 paints a picture of a loved one taking a westbound train to leave her old life behind.
We’re at the end now, but there’s no sad ending; instead we get the defiant Built By Us, a celebration of rock ‘n’ roll music and how it can change your life in the hands of the right band – a band like The Jack Knives. It’s the sort of song which goes down a storm as the last in a set, leaving you clamouring for more.
The Jack Knives thrill me in the same way bands like The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers and Spanish Love Songs did when I heard them for the first time, and I can give them no higher compliment than that.
Do yourself a favour and get your ears around this wonderful album. The Jack Knives could be your favourite new band. I know they’re one of mine. 9/10.
