Jack's Fusion is band made up of five young dreamers with a shared passion to get their music out there and to deliver performances which stick in the memory and keep making audiences fall in love with their genuine passion for what they do. Their debut EP, 'Impulse', which was launched last Thursday, captures the essence of what it is this band wants to do with their music, and that is to be resilient.

With Emma Grech as the energetic front woman who peppers every performance with as much crowd inclusion as possible, it is safe to say that the band is putting its best foot forward to ensure that audiences will always connect with them. The guitar-driven rock band has Luke Deguara and Jacob Spiteri to thank as the founders of the band and the in sync guitar work which ranges from technically proficient to just loud and proud.

The driving rhythm section is made up of Jean-luc Camilleri as a veritable behemoth on drums and Kurt Bezzina, the seemingly understated, yet very effective bassist. As a side-note, ever since he was playing in school bands as a teenager, this drummer has reminded me of Dream Theatre's Mike Portnoy, not only in stature, but in the fact that the entire drum kit and venue visibly shakes when he's playing and with Bezzina by his side, the band has a more than solid rhythmic foundation.

 

Run

The first track on the EP is called 'Run' which is rather apt considering the band likened their band to an 'adrenaline rush' in their promotion. Heavily distorted bass and an ambient delayed guitar start off the track deceptively smoothly for roughly 20 seconds until Emma's "WOAH!" breaks the silence. The panned guitars range from constant driving palm-muted chords, while on the other side we have more of the filling ambient noise.

The very characteristic chorus for the band has a mix between eclectic drive and bluesy bells and whistles. So far, so catchy with a working repetitive hook which every radio rock band wants to have. I'm quite sure everyone at the launch on Thursday woke up Friday morning wondering why they had the urge to run everywhere. Obviously, no Jack's Fusion song is complete without one of Luke Deguara, nicknamed Deggy's, solos.

 

SRS

From the get go, this song is one of those headbanging anthems with the intro riff pretty much present throughout and the entire song written around it. Despite the potential for this song to get rather repetitive recorded, it worked fine live and I'm almost certain it would be a good song to drive down the Coast Road to, at a responsible speed, of course.

This song's bridge illustrates the previous point of the guitarists being in sync beautifully with the harmonised riff going straight into the high-energy riff all over again. The outro is an offbeat speed run. The song finished a few minutes ago and my head and leg are still going.

 

Burn the Day

This song harkens back to the 90s acoustic rock feeling which makes it fun and light-hearted despite the message of 'dying to find' hope. The riff-style which has become synonymous with this band rings through making listeners have to jig around to it before Emma's belting vocals calm the audience down again for another hopeful chorus.

This song marks Jack's Fusion's second music video which shows a young man besotted by a mermaid-like girl walking him down into the sea before finally disappearing and leaving him in absolute awe. One wonders whether he was contemplating following her in and after seeing the video, I'm quite sure many would face the same conundrum.

 

Locked Out

Stepping awake from the standard radio rock rhythm and 1-2-3-4 guitar parts, this song serves to confuse the casual listeners with a more progressive noise which Jack's Fusion fans might not be expecting. What's this? A didgeridoo (played by Relikc drummer, Lesnich Vassallo)? Suddenly it seems like I'm listening to early Tribali.

Deggy's guitar work and sound reminds me of Joe Satriani's virtuoso style and the overall feel of the long instrumental interlude gives it a 'world music' vibe. Whether this song will have commercial success or not is a big question mark, but there is no question whatsoever that it is good music and most probably my personal favourite song on the entire EP.

 

Revival

This is the ballad of the album appealing to all the emotional listeners and serving as another anthem for resilience. Emma's voice here reminds me of a cross between Paramore and Florence and the Machine due to her somewhat low register and genuine wholesome sound.

I'm not a big fan of these emotional ballads usually but from an objective point of view I think the song works because it isn't all about droning on and on about touchy feely business, but there is a solid rhythm and ambient synth sound which make it full and interesting. Luke Grech from Jubox Studios probably had a big hand in filling out the acoustic sound with as many interesting samples and sounds and he could muster, knowing him.

 

Electric

This was Jack's Fusions' first single and music video which introduced them to the music scene with a bang as they got noticed by a number of radio stations with the song still being played nowadays nine months on. For a debut single, that isn't half bad. This was interesting in comparison to most music being produced locally because it wasn't ashamed to be guitar-centric with crunchy distortion, constant rumbling bass sounds, powerful drums and Emma's signature vocal style.

Their take on a performance video was also done beautifully with very interesting filming angles, red flares, dark makeup and just overall a very rock 'n' roll kind of look. Obviously, it ends on one of Deggy's wah-inspired solos which I distinctly remember one prominent DJ in Malta describing it as a breath of fresh air in comparison to the wave of ironically bland alternative music on today's airwaves.

In their promotion for the launch, the band described 'Impulse' as a fitting name considering the connotations of a sudden push or driving force, or an accelerated desire to act. "The choice of the EP title was purely due to its reflection of the band's energy and spirit, comparable, perhaps, to an adrenaline rush." This was reflected beautifully last Thursday because from the second the band got on stage, the entire audience was already buzzing.

This band is young and full of energy which is reflected both in their recorded music and their live performances. I foresee a number of other memorable gigs and releases ever-growing in proportion and potential for greater things. Keep an eye and ear out for Jack's Fusion, because I am certain that this is far from the end of their journey; as the band put it during their launch, "this is only the beginning."