Album review: JULES CARTER TRIO – Done Misbehaving

Jules Carter Trio - Done Misbehaving

Jules Carter Trio [Release date 16.06.14]

The Jules Carter Trio’s ‘Done Misbehaving’ is a frustrating album. The funky grooves, intricate guitar playing and tight band interplay from guitarist Jules, bassist Fingerz Carty and drummer Paul White is hampered by some lame lyrics and a fluctuating vocal style that struggles to bring presence to the songs.

It’s an album of sketched love and relationship songs, while ‘Ten Out Of Ten’ and ‘Bedroom Eyes’ struggle to rise above bedsit angst. And yet it’s not an album totally devoid of merit, because when Jules lets fly with some articulate solos, he broaches the subtly of Mark Knopfler (on ‘Ten Out Ten’) and Larry Carlton on the lyrically awful, but musically excellent ‘Blondie’.

On ‘Same Day Born’, a lightweight arrangement is suddenly given unexpected substance by an intricately woven solo, before it returns to its funky foundations. He’s far more impressive – if not a shade overly ambitious with his vocal – on the shimmering blues and cool dynamics of ‘Since You Went Away’, which again benefits from a fine tension breaking solo.

The best moment comes in tandem with Steely Dan’s Elliott Randall on the album’s anchor track, the suitably titled ‘Purdie’s Shuffle’. The ode to the great funky groove drummer Bernard Purdie, finds Jules and Elliott intertwined in extended conversational guitar lines, as an edgy tone meets delicate intricacy over a groove worthy of the song title.

Jules’s lyrics are notably better on the ironic ‘27 Club’, as he outlines the musically departed members of the club, starting with Robert Johnson and finishing with Amy Winehouse. There’s Brian Jones, Jim Morrison, Kurt Kobain, Hendrix, and Joplin, as well as the lesser mourned Pete Ham (Badfinger) and Les Harvey (Stone The Crows): ‘Les Harvey had a bad break, a faulty lead sealed his fate, He died on stage or so the stories tell.’

Sadly, the rest of the album is a succession of mundane confessional songs which he bravely tries to rescue with some impressive guitar work and a tightly wrapped rhythm section.

The closing ‘Ma Belle’ sounds like a transcribed jazz piece with eclectic lyrics: ‘Asked me my intentions, she thought in four dimensions.’

At its best, ‘Done Misbehaving’ explores some tidy grooves, cool solos and occasional lyrical humour, but it tries too hard to be arty and as a result over extends Jules’s vocal and song writing abilities.

He’s a decent guitarist who is happy to explore a funky feel with jazzy inflections and on that basis alone there’s a case to be made for exploring simpler and fatter grooves and ditching some of the specious stories.

It’s an album that shows plenty of promise but lacks consistency to make it truly essential. ***

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)