I am talking to Joel (aka MC Bad Genius) from Philadelphia Grand Jury, and he’s a lot quieter than I imagined. The last time I saw him he was onstage doing a cover of ’99 Problems’ at Camden Barfly, while bandmate Berkfinger was rapping in the middle of a bemused hipster crowd that were there primarily to see Male Bonding.  Bad Genius, for wont of a more original phrase, appeared to have lost his mind.  His eyes were white and wild, his hair streaked up around and everywhere,  beard drenched with spittle, and he was rolling around on the stage in a feral appropriation of a Hendrix impression.  He and Berkfinger had just swapped instruments three times, during one song.

As is often the way with these things, the offstage persona is very different to that when in the gaze of the adoring, and when I put this to him he readily agrees: “the only one of us who’s the same off stage as one is Calvin [the drummer]. He’s insane all the time, doesn’t matter where we are.  The best way I can describe it is like we’re footy players; when a footy player goes on the pitch they’re the player, not the person.  It’s the same with me."

The Philly Jays (as they are known by their fans) are currently getting a lot of opportunity to rehearse these onstage roles, embarking as they are on a mammoth UK tour that  will see them play every town from Stornoway to Exeter, and then go back to some for seconds.  Last night was York, and Joel is rhapsodising about the crowd at Fibbers: “The support bands there were just teenagers, and all their friends came down.  They went absolutely crazy."  This is in stark contrast to the crowd at the afore-mentioned Male Bonding show, where the Jays total abandonment of hearts, minds and image in the pursuit of rock n’ roll that you could, you know, sing along to was met a little less enthusiastically; "yeah, we noticed in London there’s a lot more hipsters, but it doesn’t really matter who’s in the crowd to us.  And that’s one of the things we really like about playing England anyway- people go out to see new bands, not just the headliners.  In Australia people tend to just go and see the band they want to see." 

And what has been the reaction off the beaten track in the UK... “everywhere we go people just want to have a good time-it went off in Stornoway.”

Although they are busy making new friends in the UK, in Australia they have been on the circuit for a while now and “played for two years straight before coming here.  Everyone was sick of us so we decided to come here!”  Out in Oz the band have already released an album- Hope Is For Hopers- that according to Joel should be released over here in February/March, "hopefully with a couple new tracks," one of which (‘Save Our Town’) the band are on their way to record and master today, before tomorrows show in Nottingham.

‘Save our Town’ is a glorious slice of mid-tempo downbeat rock, a little less cahm-ahn!  than tracks likes ‘I Don’t Want To Party (Party)' or ‘Going To The Casino Tomorrow Night,’ and is a good indicator of the space The Philly Jays inhabit- there is the bombast of bands like Jet or Hot Hot Heat, but lurking in the background is a healthy dollop of Eels deprecation (indeed, Joel tells me they have just been listening to the wonderful Daisies Of The Galaxy in the tour van).  They are a band for the people and not just the pretty people but the ones uncomfortable talking to members of the opposite sex, that hang around the food table at parties. They are immediate but not shallow, they put on an almighty live show that is as good as everyone says and as Joel himself says; “it’s pop music isn’t it?”

Amen.
 



The Philly Jays are playing at the Lexington tonight.  If you live in London tickets are absurdly cheap and you should go  For all further tour dates, here ya go

Posted In Features, Sep 10 2010. Words - David