 
Rockabilly, Psychobilly, and Classic Rock are
all genres that come with a long list of derogatory
adjectives these days, amongst them; cheesy, sleazy,
and un-credible, they are styles that went out
of fashion around the turn of the century and
got replaced with ‘quirky’ fashionista
labels like Art-Rock, and the dirge of all our
souls, Indie-Rock. Mojokings then are the brave,
not so new, group on the scene harking back to
the more fun and much less cerebral days of yore.
On their second album ‘Whatever Happened
To Rock ‘N’ Roll??’ the London
based trio debunk the myth that traditional Rock
‘n’ Roll is cheap and fast; the opening
eponymous track thrusts you straight in with ripping
riffs and excited boozy vocals. If you were ever
in doubt that you could enjoy music aimed straight
at the body and not the brain then instrumental
number ‘Chet Head’ with its fusion
of jazz and blues will force you revaluate.
Lyrics that reference seeing people naked, stealing,
and being red blooded not only make this primal,
instinctual and a little sexual, but it also makes
Mojokings one of the coolest bands you will ever
hear. That content comes only from their original
material, but with two covers on the album of
‘Teenage Kicks’ and ‘Paint It
Black’ respectively; you’ll be pleasantly
surprised by the groups flamenco twist on the
Stones classic. This is what you might deem artistic
interpretation.
In an attempt to capture the raw, live sound of
the Mojokings the record has settled itself in
with low-production which can often sound great,
but a bad that heavily relies on classic rock
would benefit greatly from a glossy finish. Bar
band is what springs to mind, the covers, which
are brilliant, are covers nonetheless and don’t
exactly help the situation. As a small band you
have to learn to cope with this flaw and providing
some of that aforementioned sleaze a flaw is exactly
what it is. It all comes off a bit amateur when
in reality these guys are precise and clearly
enamoured with what they do.
Mojokings are packed with roaring accessible fun
that works those tiny toe muscles and it’s
this ease that makes them loveable and more importantly
forgivable, who cares if you won’t be listening
to this in twenty years it’s great right
now. Living in the moment then is embraced on
this record, yet somehow they do that with a fusion
of every genre from the past, perhaps a sign of
our cyclical music culture, but who knows ‘You’re
A Long Time Dead’ is an amalgamation of
country rhythms and a voice that sounds somewhat
like a human didgeridoo which should always be
taken as a pleasant surprise in any situation.
Bookended well by a speech about rock-music the
songs are integrated in a fashion superior to
rest of the album and the opening moments make
‘Attack Attack’ the song it is resulting
in one of the finest on the album. It’s
stylish, competent, and almost addictive; this
is a record that fans of old music, new music,
or fun should listen to. So it’s trivial,
and all slightly meaningless the Mojokings show
us that there aint nothing wrong with easy listening.
3/5
Review by Lauren Mullineaux
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