Jim Bob, one half of ’90s indie punk band Carter USM, has announced his third album in four years as his rich creative songwriting period continues.
Thanks For Reaching Out will be released on 30 June by Cherry Red Records, and promises to be another sardonic treat.
As the singer with Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, Jim Bob had 14 Top 40 singles and four Top 10 albums (including a No 1). The band toured the world and headlined Glastonbury before breaking up in 1997.
Ten years later they were back together for a series of huge, sold out shows until they called it a day again in 2014.
He’s continued writing music, done some acting, had six novels and two memoirs published, but for the last few years he’s been focusing on music, and has his mojo back.
Jim Bob has called the album the third in a trilogy, after 2020’s Pop Up Jim Bob (reviewed here), which made No 26 in the UK charts, and 2021’s Who Do We Hate Today (No 34, and reviewed here).
An hour after sending the demo recordings to his manager, Jim Bob received a WhatsApp message: ‘I bet this is how [manager] Tony Defries felt when Bowie sent him Ziggy Stardust.’
Ten minutes later Jim Bob’s manager sent him another message: ‘Make sure you don’t muck it up in the studio’.
Jim Bob’s 12th solo studio album is 38 minutes of pop, punk rock, devastatingly moving ballads and more topical than an episode of Newsnight, with songs about Putin, the Taliban and the billionaire space race.
Recorded with the same group of musicians as his previous two albums, Jim Bob has described it like he’s at a poncy wine tasting…
“When I listen to this record, I get flavours of Buzzcocks and Dexys, with notes of Teardrop Explodes and Slade. It’s big and bold, bright and crispy, earthy and buttery, with a bouquet of barbed wire and an aftertaste of your life somehow never ever quite being the same again.“
The album will be available on vinyl, CD, cassette and digital platforms. The vinyl is purple in a gatefold sleeve with a 2024 calendar, while the CD version comes with a second disc, This Is My Mixtape, a collection of cover versions recorded especially for the album.
Special bundle
Pre-orders are being taken now on the Cherry Red Records website, including a special CD, vinyl and cassette bundle for £45 for a limited time.
Live Jim Bob dates to celebrate the album’s release are on sale now:
12 July – Leeds Brudenell
13 July – Nottingham Rescue Rooms
14 July – Bristol Thekla
15 July – Brighton Chalk
2 December – Brixton Electric
Tickets are available from seetickets.com
