What the Hammer

From the moment the opener ‘Gun Hill’ blasted into my ears, this reviewer was transported back to his days of headbanging at sweaty Levellers gigs in the distant 1990s. So it was not entirely surprising to discover that they hail from Uckfield – a pretty little town in the countryside behind Brighton, home of the Levellers.

It must be something in the accent, I thought. But the connections mushroomed further. This debut album from the four-piece folk-pop outfit was recorded at the Levellers’ Metway Studio. Their signature belter, ‘The Blacksmith Stomp’, brings to mind the Levellers’ ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’. And then I stumbled upon several covers of this self-same old Charlie Daniels Band song by Noble Jacks online.

So you get the idea. The Noble Jacks deliver fast and furious fiddle-driven folk with catchy pop hooks galore and a youthful sense of noisy defiance that gets the pulse racing. Led by fiddler Will Page – fresh face, trendy Mumfordesque flat cap and braces and smooth vocals – alongside bassist Matt Deveson, guitarist Ant Longhurst and drummer Joe Walker, the whole album is likeable, though whether it has the gristle of their 1990s forbears remains to be seen.