Originally published by L.S. Media. March 11th 2011.

The Beachcomber is the new studio album by British Rock Band Jump and as ever the guys never let their loyal fan base down with an album crammed with songs that are bound to become crowd pleasers when they play them live.

John Dexter Jones has been one of the best and underrated songwriters of the last twenty years, his personal and sometimes dramatic stories making their way onto albums with apparent ease and yet you know just by listening to songs such as Kingston Corner Blues which deals with the idea of people declaring their life stories on the phone in public and the incredible No One Spoke.

John is joined once more with fellow Jump stalwarts Steve “Ronnie“ Rundle on electric and acoustic guitar, Keyboard player Mo, drummer Andy Barker and the great Steve Hayes on guitar. This cohesive unit of collective styles has worked well for the band over the years and it would be odd to think of the band without any of these fine musicians.

The band has changed personnel slightly since the last studio release Faithful, Faithless back in 2005, with Phil Mayhew taking over the duties on bass from Andy Faulkner and it is a change that has worked well for the band. The bass may be an overlooked musical instrument in some bands but in Jump it adds perfectly to the level of consistent high achieving the band always tries to strive for.

There may be those who will struggle to pigeon hole the bands musical leaning with each song being uniquely Rock but at the same time with an air of truth and humanity rarely heard in the genre. That’s the point though as a band like Jump and their music is not able to be likened to other bands and they should be congratulated for that fact.

The Beachcomber follows in the tradition of fine, beautifully written songs and brilliant musical arrangements in the mould of A Man Was Made, Matthew and The Myth of Independence. The Beachcomber is great album to add to anyone’s collection.

Ian D. Hall