The Jacques

The Artful Dodger EP out now: apple.co/1IH167H Following on from the four track shock of their debut ‘Pretty DJ’ EP, memorably regarded by Clash as ‘Ray Davies at his most acerbic, Weller at his most romantic’, Bristol’s The Jacques return with a second blast of four songs and a host of festival dates throughout a summer sure to see them repeatedly on the lips of those who know that far from being dead, witty, intelligent, challenging guitar driven pop is about to have another one of those moments. The ‘Artful Dodger’ EP is well named, displaying four tracks that veer from the menace of the lead track that gives the EP its title through the strutting ‘Down And Out’ to the heady psyche of ‘Painkiller’ and the adrenaline rush of ‘This Is England’. If Dickens favourite urchin was in possession of a Strat (probably nicked), this is exactly the music you would expect to come from a darkened corner of his East London slums, unmistakably British and without doubt emanating a non brand controlled explosion of genuine anger, frustration and creativity, currently bubbling under the surface of many of our towns and cities. The Jacques position in this new explosion of youth music seems assured, recent recipients of a groundbreaking publishing deal with Faber Music, they already number Huey Morgan, Don Letts, Chris Hawkins, and Phil Taggart amongst their most vocal supporters with February’s ‘Weekends’ release scoring the band a first XFM playlist. ‘Artful Dodger’ comes with a video shot