Raw Candle Vote / Antonin Artaud 7″
Radial Records, 1993

A number of factors may explain why this Athens postpunk outfit never got the respect they deserve. It was easy to confuse them with Jaks, another excellent band in the mid-nineties that mined similarly angular, bass-driven noise rock alá The Jesus Lizard. Their name could also be confused with Tim Kerr’s (Big Boys, Poison 13, Monkeywrench, Lord High Fixers, etc) mid-90s project Jack O’ Fire. Or perhaps all the accurate but dismissive fanzine reviews describing them as a Jesus Lizard with a female singer didn’t appeal to the unwashed, male-centric indie masses who were still dealing with the Riot Grrl backlash. Whatever the reason, it’s a damn pity because they definitely had a unique take on the tense, mangled-but-regimented sound that cropped up in the 1990s underground. The good news is that their two LPs are relatively easy to find, so if you dig this great single — which includes a solid Bauhaus cover — you can easily score some more Jack O Nuts.

DOWNLOAD

Jack O Nuts – “Raw Candle Vote”
Jack O Nuts – “Antonin Artaud” (Bauhaus)

LINKS

Jack O Nuts on Built on A Weak Spot
Jack O Nuts on Beyond Failure