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REVIEWS, ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS
"Eugene staple Dan Jones delivers something like a more mature, less crazy Daniel Johnston vibe and keeps it rockin' thanks to the lo-fi fuzz of able backers The Squids." Amy McCullough Willamette Week March 12, 2008 Willamette Week Q & A w/ Jeff Rosenberg 8.15.07 Luciana Lopez previews PDX show in Portland Oregonian POWEROFPOP.COM reviews Get Sounds Now
by Kevin Mathews What are my first impressions of Dan Jones’ music? Strongly influenced by REM, Robyn Hitchcock and The Who, does that suggest Guided By Voices to you? Perhaps. In fact, there is a very strong 80s alt-rock sound here. I mean, please also include Dream Syndicate, the Minutemen, Sonic Youth and the Replacements into the mix. Make no mistake, though, Dan Jones delivers where it matters – great rock music, whatever the genre. Highlights include – the gorgeous fragile ballad “Little Machine,” the dynamic edgy instrumental “Successtro,” the driving “Cooling Off,” the Bob Pollard-evoking “The Rain and the Swell” and the infectious folk-rocky “Redbird in the Rain.” Kudos also to the Squids (viz. Brian Gardiner, Dustin Lanker, Tom Nunes) for providing fantastic backing to the excellent material. A- Show Preview from The Willamette Week
August, 2005 by Jeff Rosenberg Dan is back! That slogan, were it a just world, would be blaring from billboards, TV's and radios, heralding the new release by one of the most tuneful, ingratiating and clever pop-rock singer-songwriters under the hot summer sun. But alas, Bush is president, and Eugene's Dan Jones is a relative unknown talent even on his home turf. His third album, Get Sounds Now, is his best-sounding yet, thanks to producer (and former Little Sue bassist) Tom Nunes. Hopefully the sonic upgrade will help broaden Jones' rep around the region. Then, we'll work on the billboards. Soundcheck: Notes from the Northwest Music Scene
Squids' influence makes a splash by Joshua Sommer The Oregonian A & E Friday, July 8 2005 Eugene's Dan Jones, along with his band, The Squids, has become a familiar name in a city that nurtures some of the finest musicians in Oregon. That reputation is stretching the long reach of its tentacles north on the wave of several live shows, two previous albums and a tour for Jones' latest release, Get Sounds Now. "This CD has a level of relaxed ensemble playing that people have never heard in support of the songs I write," Jones said. "I've recorded stripped-down acoustic, I've recorded with bombastic slabs of rock, and I've recorded in a highly detailed, multi-layered production environment. But this album is a band playing live in a studio--playing songs they know, but not too well." "The tracking sessions only took a day and half--there's a lightness to this, I guess the pleasure of the company we were keeping and the level of musicianship." His two previous CD's include a self-produced acoustic album titled For Your Radio, released in 1998; and the pop/punk-rock One Man Submarine that made a critical splash in 2003. Two years later Get Sounds Now is a refreshing bit of song-writing with witty yet passionate lyrics and masterful orchestration. The album shines with Jones' and the Squids musical maturity and the powerful acceptance of reality. "These songs seem to be about daily life and work in a lot of ways," said Jones. "But it's also just the usual things: love, suffering, hope, finding courage. I look at things from the side in my songs, or pretend I'm not there, but my heart is in there somewhere." His casual approach to song-writing belies a certain seriousness masked with humor. "I catch onto a phrase or a story line while I'm doing something mundane, or even trying to entertain someone in a mundane environment like work, and then I write it on a piece of paper, shove it in my pocket, and hope I find it later." For influences and inspiration, Jones turns to musicians such as The Minutemen and Lou Reed, and writers like William Stafford, Julia Cameron, and Natalie Goldberg. "Cooling Off," the second track on the new album, acknowledges William Faulkner with the quip "dropped my Sound and Fury in the sink/the pages stick together now they stink," and follows with the yearning chorus "I wonder what became of the girl/with the I Shot Reagan tattoo on her stomach." Billy Barnett, owner of Eugene's Gung-Ho (where One Man Submarine was recorded and mixed) says of Jones' songs, "They tend to be musically straightforward, unpretentious, melodic; lyrically smart and thoughtful; and the angst and angles within the storylines come across with a wry humor and sympathy...never the urgent, needy, in your face variety." Take a Close Look at Dan Jones
by Angela Yeager Salem Statesman-Journal Thursday, Augst 25, 2005 Some songs make you dance. Some make you cry. Dan Jones writes the kind of songs that make the listener stop and think "I've always wanted to say that." On Saturday, Jones celebrates the release of his third full-length album Get Sounds Now at the IKE Box. Also playing is Eugene piano pop band The Visible Men, who also are releasing a CD. Jones is a Eugene singer/songwriter and guitarist who developed a loyal following after years of churning out his songs. It's the kind of music that's fun to sing along to with friends who are cupping mugs of beer in their hands--comfort music if you will. Jones' last CD, 2003's One Man Submarine was a critically acclaimed post-punk hybrid that had critics comparing his sound to Lou Reed, Husker Du, and Steve Earle. But the funny and surprising thing about Jones is while his sound doesn't immediately strike you as particularly unique, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what his influences are. Just when you think you've got his sound pegged as jangly power pop--such as in the second song off Get Sounds Now, "Cooling Off"--he throws a curveball. "Little Machine" is a soft, slightly melancholic number that seems too simple at first. Two hours after you hear it, yhou find yourself humming the chorus. And then again there are those words, little nuggets of lyrical gold, such as this from "Saggy Pants": "...All the vegan punks who hire on end up in middle management and dink around on fast computers. They say we've got plumber's crack, but it's not plumber's crack; we're cutting concrete and we're driving Macks." ERASING CLOUDS reviews Get Sounds Now
by tonydoug wright Ladies and Gentleman, I am having a tough time writing my review for Dan Jones’ Get Sounds Now. You may be wondering, “Does this album suck?” The answer is no but for some reason I‘m feeling somewhat uninspired. Perhaps some caffeine will help. Forget it, I’m sucking it up and writing a super-awesome review for Get Sounds Now. Now What we have here is an album inspired by the likes of Yo La Tengo and Guided By Voices, featuring Jones’ vocals that are one part Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) mixed with some John Linnell (They Might Be Giants) with a dash of Mac McCaughan (Superchunk). “I wished I learned Italian and Spanish while I was fired up and young”, sings Jones on ‘Soggy Pants’, a track that’s an excellent example of his witty and poetic style. Never pretentious but always sincere in his delivery, Jones’ album Get Sounds Now is a nice indie rock effort. OREGON VOICE reviews Get Sounds Now
Volume XVII, Issue 1, Fall 2005 by Jon Itkin Clocking in at slightly more than half an hour, Dan Jones' Get Sounds Now is a whirlwind of raw rock and roll color. Sounding like The Who fronted by an unpretentious, tuneful Lou Reed, Jones bashes out his short tunes with equal parts fire and tenderness. Get Sounds Now has the magical, inexplicable appeal of an album that gets you through. Tiny artifacts sparkle on top of the music; a piano chord here, a tucked-in acoustic guitar there, a well-placed crunchy guitar chord, or a beat of silence. Atop this sonic bedrock Jones lays down his deceptively literate lyrics. Not many songwriters can make references to William Faulkner and Russian aerospace exploration without sounding self-referential. Jones steers through the modern landscape with artful randomness, telling bittersweet stories and showing usthe pictures, too. Rating: red wagon out of generic fond memories. HIGH BIAS reviews Get Sounds Now
Dan Jones has the clever lyrics required of singer/songwriters these days, and he's certainly capable of pretty indie pop ditties like "The Rain and the Swell," "Redbird in the Rain" and "Little Machine." But the Oregonian can also kick out the jams. He's no MC5, but tunes like "Sunrise Man" (which boasts an awesome off-kilter guitar solo), "Success Wars" and the opening instrumental "Successtro" get the blood moving. Regardless of when he's playing hard or soft, Jones never forgets the virtues of memorable melodies, especially when he splits the diff with "Bluebird." (Michael Toland) As you will no doubt discover, Dan Jones certainly says all the rights things and makes all the right noises. His influences are pretty much all the right ones and that's why he makes indie rock music that is relevant and vibrant. Dan cracked that my questions opened the gates - heh - that's what it's all about, boys and girls... If pressed, how would you describe the music of Dan Jones? Melodic, cathartic rock/pop songs inspired by all kinds of postpunk rock and its antecedents. Songs that are smart, narrative, conversational, weird, confessional, non-confessional, full of hooks. Hell, I don't know. Awesome driving music, people tell me. Steve Wynn said Dan Jones and the Squids live sounded like solo Pete Townshend and '69 VU. That sounds pretty good to me, too. That was a hot lineup, lucky times. Who would you say have had the biggest influences on your music & why? Friends who encouraged me (esp Tom Jessen and Ed Cole, both singer-songwriters). Earth-school circumstances that roughed me up, gave me something to sing about. Also, music has always been one of my best friends, whether it was the Jackson Browne record I bought for my sister as a "birthday present" in 1977 or the first hardcore records in the 80's. Seeing SST bands on the tour circuit, up close, in the 80's, seeing bands load their own stuff out of the van, on the street. The spiritual and intellectual side of The Who, yoked to masterly song craft, dog-fight musicality, and powerful arrangements, still inspires; D. Boon still sets the standard for cutting out the crap. and fighting personal and cultural fascism. 80's Lou Reed has always seemed totally underrated to me--the stuff with Robert Quine and Fernando Saunders, to me, sets the standard for aging gracefully and creatively after getting your heavy destructo freak on. A song like "legendary hearts" is americana to me, not some faux-rural crap about straw hats and hanging out drunk on the porch. Meat Puppets are my favorite band of all time. In the best sense of it, they did not care. Every record came from a different angle. And I lived and breathed Husker Du for a long time. The Silo's Cuba is a favorite, the first "less is more" rock record to come my way. For fiction writing 101 in song, I like Tom T. Hall and Freedy Johnston. For brutal force focused through amps I never quit listening to The Stooges and Black Flag. Neil Young continues to open different channels according to how he's feeling and that's really inspiring. Robert Pollard's flow is pretty inspiring. If you really show up and just let stuff start to happen, there's no such thing as creative block. What inspired you to pick up a guitar and write songs? Originally I just wanted to be like the people on the records I liked, who played in the bands I was seeing, and do what they were doing. It was also something tactile to do with my hands while I fretted about how to become a writer or a poet. Also self-medication and later, poverty. Tacking my boombox recordings at the end of mix tapes was also a start. "Oh, and check THIS out, too." I like how guitars smell. I liked seeing the pictures colored by the music, working with my hands, the shapes of chords and how they fit together, the fiddling with word choices. The need to express yourself is rooted in all sorts of things but passing the time with enjoyment is one of the most important motivations. Impressing people and getting a reaction is great too but won't necessarily keep ya goin. What is the biggest obstacle to being creative? Cynicism, perfectionism, and yoking self worth to someone else's standards. Fatigue. Burnout. Credit card debt. Worry. Addiction--whatever it might be. Thinking it's magic and not showing up. Hoping someone will do things on the "business" side that you can actually do yourself. Can we expect a new album soon from Dan Jones and what will sound like? The first proper Dan Jones and The Squids album (my fourth overall) is due in 2007. It's the first album I've made where tracking happened in a productive caffeinated three day blast, with a seasoned, consolidated lineup: me, Mike Last on drums, Dave Snider on bass, Patrick Hayden on guitar. The three albums I had in mind going in were Sonic Youth's Evol, Who's Next, and Lou Reed's The Blue Mask. This sounds grandiose but hey, those were just the things I was thinking about at the time. Two-guitar rock jangle, saturated drone, with some martial psychedelic aspects. Unlike past albums there aren't a handful of depressive ballads that set up the punky sucker punches. This record clips along fast. What's new about it is a few songs that are through-written without alot of A/B/A/B/Bridge format. Kind of artier, heavier, and faster than anything I've done before. There's a couple straight up pop songs on there and ballad too. I'm psyched. We're working at a studio called Big Timbre in Eugene, with an engineer named Jason Robbins. I finished the vocals this week. Where you goin' - www.powerofpop.com is where you wanna be! Dan Jones has been compared to some select company, including Husker Du of all bands. But it's hard to see what that comparison might have any clout with the surf-guitar rave-up instrumental entitled "Successtro". Not a bad song but nothing to write home about. From there, the '60s pop feeling of "Cooling Off" has some things going for it, namely a nice melody but with Jones sounding like a whiney Westerberg at best. It has a strong bridge though bringing to mind the Attractions without Elvis at the helm. As the album continues, it gets better, including a poppy and light "The Rain and the Swell" that would fit alongside something David Kilgour might have recently put out. Jones wears his heart on his sleeve during the soft, ballad-ish "Little Machine" that seems to fit his tired, weary vocal. But "Baron Von Wasteland", while flexing a wall of guitar at times, is best left to They Might Be Giants with some twists and turns. The Petty-esque "Redbird in the Rain" is perhaps the best of the lot here. A close second might be the mid-tempo roots pop of "Bluebird". And anyone who can make the phrase "plumber's crack" sound wistful, as he does on "Saggy Pants", can't be all bad. The added bonus songs don't live up to expectations, just filler. [Insound] — Jason MacNeil Eugene Weekly reviews Get Sounds Now by Vanessa Salvia Jones scores with Get Sounds Now. On his third full-length, Jones maintained creative ownership by releasing it on his start-up label, Daily Records, rather than renewing his contract with local label Leisure King. The result is a collection of 10 tunes recorded by a plugged-in band with an off-the-cuff feel. One of Jones' strengths is his wit; he can write a charming song like "Saggy Pants" that's not just jokes about plumber's crack. Jones goes from one strong song to another, varying the tempo enough to keep things interesting. "The Rain and the Swell" is an album highlight, with a catchy opener and a jangly beat throughout. "Sunrise Man" shows that Jones can rock as well as roll. he slows down on "Little Machine" which sparkles with a lovely piano accompaniment. "Baron Von Wasteland" is a pop rocker about a washed-up former cosmonaut. My favorite is "Redbird in the Rain," a song that makes me smile with its metaphors and don't-give-up attitude. Jones' music reminds me that I can like Americana rock music without torturing myself with folk singers who are unable to write anything that doesn't sound like they're singing to their therapist. NWRadio.com reviews One Man Submarine By Walker Grey If Dan Jones were an actor intent on hitting the big time he’d probably change his everyman name to something more attention-grabbing. As fate would have it though, Jones is an unpretentious folk-rocker, so he lets his music do the talking. And does it ever. One Man Submarine is like that unruly kid at the back of class in grade school who just won’t shut up. However, in this case, he’s got some profound things to say, so you might want to just let him babble on and forget about any threats of Saturday school. Extended metaphors aside, One Man Submarine is the real deal, 12 unforgettable tracks whose instantly hummable melodies will stick in your brain like gum under a desk long after you’ve wrested the CD from your player (good luck on that, by the way). Jones’ plaintive, well-worn voice is the ideal instrument to deliver his whimsical, detail-rich story songs, in which getting your PHD in post-war pornography theory, driving a Chinese car, and living in a town called Penitentiary are all possibilities. If Jones ever wearies of music-making, a long career in short story and novel-writing awaits. Musically, Jones is all over the map, toggling back and forth between quiet, folky numbers with subtle instrumentation (“Walkin’ Blue,” “On Vacation,” and “Worst Practice Ever”) and full-blown band rave-ups (“One Man Submarine,” “My Banana,” and the fabulously titled “Phogna Bologna,” the last of which contains some of the funniest, most true lyrics on the album). “Joy” and “Frustration” are a couple of slower, bluesy tracks which perfectly cover opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. “Death’s Head Bar,” One Man Submarine’s almost six-minute epic centerpiece, provides more details than a police report (if said report were penned by a lit major on acid) about a magically realistic dive where, like the Hotel California, leaving does not seem to be an option. One Man Submarine concludes with Jones experiencing the internal tug of war that occurs when he realizes he doesn’t “want to play the bonehead anymore” (the rollicking “Steve’s Dad”) and that perhaps the fishbowl in which he’s been living is a bit confining and that heading out into the unknown might be the best, only plan (the gorgeous yearning of “Adeleine”). In short, Dan Jones takes us to school and we’re better for the experience. One Man Submarine provides a comprehensive education on how to sing songs that will resonate with adults but also celebrate the child within who has not yet lost his/her ability to experience wonder while suspending disbelief. I have a five-disc carousel in my CD player and thanks to Dan Jones that only gives me four spots to fill with other music for the time being. Kind words from The Portland Mercury, April 29, 2004 by Kim Chun Dan Jones Hotel Oregon, April 30 Smash your head on the acoustic punk rock. Diehard fans of Dan Jones' debut, For Your Radio may miss the days when the Eugene singer-songwriter would ply his Cormac McCarthy-inspired stories with simply an acoustic guitar. But considering that this working-stiff-songsmith as always had a jones for rocked-up stuff like The Who, Husker Du, and Guided By Voices, it's little wonder that Jones eventually turned to solo electric guitar. Back when the self-described eccentric started playing open mics seven years ago, Jones says, "The singer-songwriter role was all I could manage. I was too shy to play with other people so I just started with acoustic guitars, wishing it was a band. It's been a process of getting out of isolation, musically, which has been pretty hard in a way, because I'm just a nervous Nelly." Jones recently popped out of his shell with an alternately roots and rocking second album, One Man Submarine (Leisure King Productions) and a genuine, full-fledged indie-rock band, The Squids. Miles of Music reviews One Man Submarine Dan Jones, of Eugene, OR, crafts jangly, guitar driven pop that swings both rootsy and rocky while maintaining a lyrical edge full of wry humor and reflective wit. The track "Sweet Sophia" is infectious, with its near-bubblegum hook and a sound that lands somewhere between the Knack and the Beach Boys. His innocent delivery belies his age (early thirties), and the band on occasion rocks it up good, driving him into a gritty howl on the more angst-fueled "My Banana". This disc wins on so many levels, but it's the fun rockin' song titled "Phogna Balogna" that wins the award for most clever title of the year. One Man Submarine is fun for sure, but aside from the lighthearted song titles, Jones maintains a level of sincerity throughout this record that makes it very appealing. (Leisure King) Cover story from Eugene Register Guard, March '03 A nuanced album rises to the surface by Lewis Taylor Dan Jones could have been done with his latest release long before now, but the Eugene pop-rock artist deep-sixed most of the songs from an early 2002 recording session and went back into the studio several months later, searching for something he felt had eluded him. "I wanted the unknown to be part of my vision," Jones said. "I had the feeling that I was getting into what I wanted to do, but I had a definite sense that I would not be able to still go into the unknown." Jones' search for the X-factor resulted in "One Man Submarine," an album that is arguably richer, more nuanced and more mature than the straight-ahead songs he recorded during his first session at Eugene's Gung Ho Studios. Heavy on guitars and seasoned with Midwestern innocence, the album walks a line between Jones' two main (and sometimes competing) influences, folk-rock and punk-rock. A reviewer for Kool Kat Musik, an online record store that recently started carrying the album, put it this way: "lotsa lotsa guitars, hooks galore and a nice mix of uptempo and slower tunes." Jones officially will unveil his new album today at a CD release party sponsored by Leisure King Records, the homegrown pop imprint run by Scott McLean and his wife, Annabelle Garcia McLean, daughter of the late Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia. The small label made its debut roughly a year ago; "One Man's Submarine" is its second release. The fact that Kool Kat Musik already has picked up Jones' new album, based only on word of mouth, may be a sign that his intentionally cloudy vision will pay off. The record, which has been available around town for weeks, has been getting local airplay, and McLean reports steady sales at the Leisure King Records web site. "So many little efforts over the last three or four years have added up to something special," Jones said. Jones, 33, got into the rock game relatively late. A custom window frame maker with a literature degree, he settled in Eugene after growing up in the Midwest. His debut album, "For Your Radio," was a shaggy, do-it-yourself, folk-rock project that was recorded in six hours one Saturday at a local recording studio. Nevertheless, the record, which Jones describes as a nostalgic song cycle, highlighted his knack for crafting vivid stories and catchy melodies and caught the attention of more than one record label. In contrast, Jones describes "One Man Submarine" as an album about late 20s loneliness. The record is cozy like an old pair of sneakers in one moment ('Walkin' Blue") and as noisy as a chain saw the next ('My Banana"). "Death's Head Bar" is a vivid scene-setter, "Sweet Sophia" surges with bright nostalgia, and the title track is the album's jangling centerpiece. "Somebody pointed out that a one-man submarine is something that relies on support from above so that it can journey down into the deep," Jones said. "There's claustrophobia and there's adventure and there's risk and there's beauty and kind of this Piscean nautical stuff in it." While making "One Man Submarine," Jones tapped the talents of nearly a dozen different local musicians, including guitarist Ed Cole (Activator), drummer Jivan Valpey (Pass Out Kings) and recording engineer/bassist Bill Barnett. McLean, who gets a tambourine credit on at least one song, said Jones constantly searches for musicians who can anticipate the next beat. "I don't think that it's pickiness," McLean said. "It's just that he likes to work with people who, this is going to sound way too hippie, but people who sense the vibe of what to do. ... He really is a vibey kind of guy." Bass player Dave Snider and drummer Eric Jensen make up Jones' current house band, the Squids. The trio collaborated on only five of the 12 tracks on the new album, but they will play a more vital role when Jones takes his show on the road this spring. Jensen's contribution to "One Man Submarine" involved alternating between a pair of different drum sets. He used an cheaper Japanese set from the 1970s to enhance the garage-rock factor on some of the noisier songs and a fine vintage set to add more precise rhythm to the more delicate tunes. Jensen, who played with Jones in the rock band Activator, said the trio was united in its approach to music. "His songs are kind of innocent and lighthearted, and that's kind of how my drumming is, too,' Jensen said. "There's not a lot of pretension. 'Pretense isn't something I'm going for. I don't think he is either. ... I think he and I are both on the same page as far as creative goals go - making music we can be happy with, and really just trying to sum something up as clearly as possible." Positively Yeah Yeah Yeah reviews One Man Submarine by John James My pick of week is One Man Submarine, a stunning Indie gem from Eugene, Ore., singer/songwriter Dan Jones on the Leisure King label. More open sky and underwater than just "Americana," this sophomore release from a late blooming master songwriter is blissfully washed in fragile acoustic and jangle Pop guitars, building and leaning, cutting loose with Punk Rock riffs and -- when you least expect it -- roaring walls of humming waves. Deliciously melding influences like Roger Miller, Lou Reed, Hüsker Dü, The Meat Puppets and Steve Earle, Jones' wit and chops are electric, haunting, spontaneous, and fun. The quieter moments are reminiscent of Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey's Mavericks album and relaxed and flickering silent super-8 movies. But when the lights go down I can only imagine Jones' wicked grin as he plugs in his amp, charging forward like a house party bat out of hell. Well worth searching for. |
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