EP Review: Jesus Hooligan – Swamp Stomp

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Jesus Hooligan

Swamp Stomp - Self Released

Jesus Hooligan started out when Steve Brunton, formerly of punk bands Gout and Lager Louts, had to stop singing live due to health reasons, needing another outlet he started making music from whatever came to hand, including tractors, angle grinders, drills, barrells, buckets, scaffold tubes and diesel tanks. This was the origin of Jesus Hooligan, as his health improved he has steadily accumulated an eccentric collection of collaborators that has resulted in a band like no other. 

Maybe it’s the fact that everything has stopped, maybe it’s the fact I was in self isolation for two weeks which ended just as everything closed, maybe it’ the fact that everything in my social calendar for the foreseeable future has vanished, but now more than ever music is important, it’s a lifeline to the events we once enjoyed, and will enjoy again. In the world we inhabit right now where concerts are virtual and popular music is refined and autotuned into something unrecognisable, there is something reassuring in “Swamp Stomp“, the latest recording from Jesus Hooligan

Jesus Hooligan are what punk would have sound like had it happened before the industrial revolution, primitive raw beats and chants that are delivered with equal levels of joy and rage, there really are no comparisons. Jesus Hooligan stand alone in their sound, somehow fusing punk, tribal beats and ancient folk music to produce something that is hypnotic, wild and unhinged. Primal chants commence tracks that steadily build in intensity, think of Hawkwind‘s finest hours and Evil Blizzard‘s twisted mantra ground down to it’s most primitive form and you might, just might, have a vague idea of what Jesus Hooligan sound like. If you want accessible pop music then this isn’t going to be for you, but if, however, you want raw industrial intensity and something truly original that is drawn from deepest roots of music then you really do need to find Jesus. 

The physical CD of “Swamp Stomp” can be purchased from Jesus Hooligan and the EP can be downloaded and streamed from all the usual digital service providers. You can also stream “Swamp Stomp” in full via YouTube here.