Review & Full Album Premiere: Little Jimi, EP.1
[Click play above to stream Little Jimi’s debut LP, EP.1, in its entirety. Album is out Nov. 16 and available to preorder from Mars Red Sound.]
Doesn’t feel like a rash assumption to imagine who “Big Jimi” might be in this case, but Little Jimi is both the name of the band and the character whose story said band is telling. And while we’re on the subject of names, EP.1 is the somewhat counterintuitive title given to Little Jimi‘s debut LP, stemming from the fact that before they added the songs “Dock 11” and “Midnight Mojo” to close out sides A and B, respectively, it was their first EP, given the much more telling title: First EP. If it helps to think of EP.1 as an abbreviation of “episode one,” then fair enough, but at six songs and 38 minutes, it is an LP, and a smooth-flowing one at that. The heavy psychedelic rocking three-piece of guitarist/vocalists Guillaume Arancibia and Benjamin Monnereau and drummer Antoine Le Gall are based in Bordeaux, France, and given their propensity for trippy space-making, weighted low end, melodic range and rolling groove — not to mention the fact that they’re releasing through the label Mars Red Sound — a comparison to Mars Red Sky feels somewhat inevitable.
But if it’s to be a question of character in the songwriting, Little Jimi have their own both literally and figuratively, and the album finds its own reaches to inhabit apart from that influence, as one would hope it would. From opener “Jimi” through the memorable bounce of “Goodbye Katus” and the patient delivery of the stick-clicking in “Midnight Mojo,” Little Jimi present an engaging depth of mix and a varied craft built on a sense of narrative cohesion that nonetheless proves able to affect a hypnotic jamming vibe when it so chooses, as on that eight-minute finale track, rife with wah-laden guitar soloing, swinging drums and a fervent forward drive in its resolution. There is little about their presentation one could call pretentious from the natural sound of the recording style on down through the construction of the songs themselves, and whether one engages with the story of Jimi himself and his friend Katus — who might be a teddy bear — or not, there’s still a rich listening experience on offer.
Of course I’m not going to tell you to discount the quest of Jimi as he for some reason leaves home and looks for a new existence. The lyrics indeed present the first episode of his tale, from the introduction in the first song through the departure of a train at the end of “Goodbye Katus” with a journey in between. It’s not at all so plainly obvious what’s happening at any given moment — that is, Little Jimi haven’t exactly written a rock opera — but they’ve set themselves in the first-person, and it works well with their aesthetic, tapping inspiration from the progressive textures of Pink Floyd in “Molimoh” at the outset of side B while the opening rollout of “Jimi” hits into minor-key instrumental melodies even before the vocals arrive, giving a somewhat foreboding atmosphere throughout a spacious initial verse while building tension into the instrumental chorus.
Though neither Arancibia nor Monnereau are credited with playing bass live, there is definitely a low end presence on the album itself, whether that’s layered in on the recording amid two guitars or just one of those guitars doing a bass impression. In either case, EP.1 lacks nothing as regards tonal presence, and among the primary elements of the band’s skillset is creating a molten atmosphere early that solidifies into a later thrust. It’s not quite the same as a straight linear build on “Jimi,” because the song works back and forth between its verse and instrumental chorus, but there is a sense of direction all the same. With its whispers and swirling, flute-like effects, there’s a likewise forward push in “Lamp Song,” though that actually is more of a linear build, brought to a head twice over the course of the song’s five and a half minutes, so there’s some structural variation as well. Naturally, that’s only to the band’s advantage as they tell their tale.
Or rather, as they begin it, because as much as there’s an ending — that train departs in “Goodbye Katus” and I’m not entirely sure what’s happening in the semi-spoken parts of “Midnight Mojo,” but we’ve left the station, so to speak — Little Jimi seem intent in the spirit of modern cinematics to set themselves up for a sequel. In that regard, “Dock 11” and “Midnight Mojo” feel extra crucial, since they represent the newest material on the record. And sure enough, they’re the most sonically adventurous, with bold diversions of guitar in “Dock 11” amid a rhythmic insistence and a tight sub-five-minute runtime and the aforementioned jam-out in “Midnight Mojo” during which they seem to capitalize on the fluidity they’ve been able to build up throughout “Molimoh” and “Goodbye Katus” while bringing themselves to even new places. In addition to this, one finds a greater depth of arrangement in these newer tracks, with acoustic guitar layered into “Dock 11” to highlight a sentimental feel. That’s less the case with “Midnight Mojo,” but amid all the Hendrixery it’s nonetheless noteworthy that Little Jimi showcase such a penchant for changing up their methods even in these two tracks, let alone the album of which they’ve been made a part.
As to what the next episode of Little Jimi‘s voyage might hold, or whether the band might drop the thread entirely and pursue other avenues, I wouldn’t want to speculate. Their showcase here, frankly, is enough for the moment in introducing their style to audience and creating a flow that only grows more immersive as the album plays out. There may be more to come in this thread, but as a first installment, EP.1 holds as much promise for the narration itself as for the plotline, and again, whether a given listener is inclined to follow Jimi’s adventure with each footfall or step back and see the whole picture as it’s presented in these tracks, it’s clearly a story worth hearing.
Tags: Bordeaux, EP.1, France, Little Jimi, Little Jimi EP.1, Mars Red Sound
