Blind Jackson, Stop The Clock

Blind Jackson probably could have cleaned up in 1990. The London band has the feel of Britpop in the days before it was stadium-sized by Oasis, and the three songs on Stop The Clock have a neatly kicky punch. “Keep On Running” and the garage-y “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” (not a cover of the Leadbelly song), earlier singles reissued here, are both underscored by a bluesy feel, but “Stop The Clock” is the EP’s most interesting song: it draws from the same well as the La’s when they were in a minor-key mood, with a harder rhythm that seems to collapse the complexities of ska into a 4/4 singularity. Despite the clean melodicism, sharp playing and Marc Bolan-meets-Mick Jagger snarl of lead singer Sy Badham, though, the song, at a mere(ish) 3:37, goes on about a minute too long (recommended cut: everything from the start of the first bridge to the start of the second). That shows that Blind Jackson doesn’t know what to do with its good ideas. There are worse places to start out.