Acrobat - Jo Webb & the Dirty Hands

11 songs about failure

On his website, Jo Webb states his influences as Andy Partidge, Roger Waters, Frank Zappa, the Beatles and Iron Maiden, but in truth, Acrobat, Jo Webb's debut, sound more like a mixture of Maximo Park and The Feeling, or an English counterpart to Harvey Danger.

Jo Webb also claims that the Dirty Hands are 'the best band you've never heard of', and after listening through he may well be right. At times, the songs crackle with energy, and none more so than in Acrobat - the first single and album opener - an ecclectic mix of crunchy guitars, hooky synths and a catchy chorus, Acrobat has a youthful exuberance not heard since the aforementioned Feeling's Twelve Stops From Home. And Acrobat isn't even the best song. No, that title lies with Happy Man. Its a darker song than Acrobat and perhaps less radio-friendly, clearly the 'Happy Man' is anything but. Lines like "Dont need to drink yourself to sleep/don't need to bury the food you eat" and "Break it down, life is full of misery so why participate?" show the darker side of Jo Webb's lyrics.

Its not all plain sailing. Towards the end of the album the quality takes a dip, notably Invisible and Dissolved, but perks up again for the final two. Invisible is incongrously uninteresting, with some awkwardly phrased melodies and lyrics (what would people do if all the money in the world dissapeared and all their treasures were worth absolutely nothing at all?). Similarly, Dissolved never really gets going either, though not quite to the extent of Invisible. Given the overall quality of the record these blips can be mostly overlooked, but its just a shame they're present because Jo Webb can undoubtably write better songs.

The million-pound question is, Will they ever become well-known? In a fair world, where music is judged by quality, and people have time for a more modest band exempt from celebrity-crazed egotism and well-crafted, infectious pop songs, then yes, but sadly this is not the case, and despite the quality of this record, I get the impression that that Jo Webb and the Dirty Hands will plug away as unknowns without making much of an impression on public consciousness.


Tracks to download:
Just buy the damn album!