Review: The Jujubes – Raging Moon

(September 17th, 2022)

Reviewer: Dan Mann

‘Raging Moon‘ is my introduction to The Jujubes, who are a three piece British blues band. This is the band’s sophomore album, consisting of six original songs as well as four cover versions.

So what’s my first take on them after an initial listen? Well to create a Jujubes cocktail you need one part sultry female vocals, one part blues harp, one part accoustic guitar, one part slide and several parts percussion. Strip back to basics and pour into a tall glass. This folks is really about as stripped back as traditional blues gets.

‘Raging Moon‘ is the sort of album I think of as a palette cleanser. What do I mean by that? Well occasionally you need some music that takes things back to basics, that enables you to really appreciate musicianship. With this release there is literally nowhere to hide, with every note and lyric exposed for your lugholes entertainment.

Hat’s off to what is a young band performing a genre which is still very much viewed as an ‘old man’s genre’, something that is reinforced at most blues gigs. I was certainly the odd man out with my chums when I was younger as I liked blues & blues rock as well as the harder & heavier stuff. We need younger bands and artists to help bring in the next generation of fans. Okay small rant over, what The Jujubes have created with ‘Raging Moon‘ is such a fresh injection of traditional blues, combined with that British ingredient, that little something that you can’t quite put your finger on, that grabs you from the start and demands your attention.

I know I always bang on about the fact I have to love the vocals in order to love an album, but it’s just me being honest. The voice of vocalist Nikki Brooks just transports you to some dimly lit blues bar, combine that with guitarists Sandy and Pete, delivering a very much less is more approach, and you’ve got everything you need.

Whilst ‘Raging Moon‘ will appeal to blues fans of course, I urge the rest of you to be a little daring and take a listen to an album that is filtered of noise and excess. What’s the worse that could happen? Well, you could become a fan of the blues…..