In this week's print edition of ye olde DC9, North of the Dial scribe Rodrigo Diaz checks in with Denton's Dale Jones, who's known best around town as "That guy that wears dirty clothes and fake blood all over his face when he performs -- and pretty much never on a stage, either," or, perhaps more simply, as New Science Projects.
Indeed, seeing a NSP show isn't for the faint of heart -- or those who don't like their personal space being invaded, considering how frequently Jones likes to, quite literally, get right up in the faces of his audiences as he struts and strolls about. Diaz describes this performance style quite nicely in his piece, referencing Jones and his band's Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios performance last weekend:
With people lined up on all sides of them--some even standing on chairs--frontman and songwriter Dale Jones began belting out half-screamed words in his guttural, Glenn Danzig-meets-Isaac Brock voice, which he refers to sarcastically as "the sound of angel wings brushing together."Yeah, the live shows can be quite the spectacle -- enough so, even, to mask the fact that Jones is actually a pretty great blues-punk songwriter. His new album, Bikini Salute!, showcases this quite well, too -- especially Jones' to-the-point nature, given that, of album's 11 tracks, only three dare to push themselves much past the two-minute mark.
Having all the trappings of a punk show, with a dash of folk in there somewhere, the band, which included Jones on acoustic guitar, Scarlett Wright on drums, Donovan Ford on bass and Victor Monterosso on guitar and organ, was somehow able to get a nice and rambunctious pit going sans kick drum and including a harmonica. Continue reading...
Fortunately for Jones, he doesn't need much time to make his point. For proof, hit the jump, where we've posted a free download of Bikini Salute!'s shortest track, the 67-second-long "Goodbye," courtesy of the folks at Gutterth Records, who've released the disc.
Bonus MP3: New Science Projects -- "Goodbye"