The Jokers are a four-piece rock band from Liverpool, incorporating Wane Parry on vocals and Paul Hurst on guitar, with relatively new members Dan Evans on drums and Phil Hartley on bass. Hurricane is their third album, and follows on from 2013’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Alive.

Although I was aware of the name The Jokers, I had never heard their music. So, once I knew their CD Hurricane was winging its way through the post to me for review, I decided to obtain a foreknowledge of what they are all about. I really wish I hadn’t. I selected a clip or two of them from YouTube playing live, and most of the time was taken up with, frankly, needless tomfoolery which I didn’t find even remotely amusing. Consequently, I had already partly made up my mind this was going to be pretentious ‘Listen to us, aren’t we funny’ claptrap. I was to be pleasantly surprised.

There are twelve tracks on the album, and an additional four (albeit rather short) bonus songs. So, plenty of material to get your teeth into. The overall sound – at least to my ears – places The Jokers in the 1980s to early 1990s. It’s traditional rock with an occasional harder edge. It is the vocal style and lyric content which dates the music... or at least grounds it in a certain era. I heard many influences, including AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake, Bad Company, Peter Frampton, and even The Sweet. As my tastes are rather heavy for the most part these days it took me half the album before I started to get into it. During a second listen I did warm to it; it’s definitely a ‘good time’ sound to play in the car on a warm Summer’s day. Paradoxically, having said my tastes are heavier, my favourite track is the excellent rock ballad, 'Dream'.

I couldn’t sign off without mentioning the quirky and quite brilliant cover artwork. It shows the band in an open-top deep red Aston Martin, caught in a hurricane over London. In the air around them is a red telephone box, the London Eye, the Tower of Westminster (Big Ben is the bell!) a guitar, two rock chicks, a cow and a grannie in a chair. I don’t think they could have fitted much else into the picture.

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Ty Power