Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A momentary recognition that becomes the lifetime of understanding is perhaps the most appreciative way someone can show their empathy to another human being; for what some perceive as asking for sympathy, is in actual fact the beginning, the Flicker of thoughtful awareness, the compassion to listen to the whole story instead of wanting to top it by interrupting with a tale of their own. The Flicker is the start, the registration, the mustered check that we are aware.

It matters not where we find this ability in compassion, but it normally and assuredly starts with the ability to listen to art being brought to life, to feel your soul and your heart feel the warmth, the love, and the possible explanation of the damage endured, and then to fold it into your own experience, and ask what if? What if that happened to me, how would I react, how would I stand against the forces that conspire to subjugate my body, that wish to see me suffer.

Following on from the critically praised E.P., Sensation, Jody And The Jerms return with the full length album of Flicker and the sense of expression, the artistry, and the overwhelming feel of escape, isolation and vivid encounters with love, mark the album out as being unapologetically unashamed of its stance, of its belief to enthral a crowd.

There is though, a different kind of loss to be felt as the album plays out, and whilst music lovers up and down the country, if not world-wide, feel the void left by the untimely passing of the dedicated and much loved DJ, Janice Long, for the band the sense of strange forfeiture of time must be felt as they recall they were the last artists to feature on a live session for the respected music lover.

To argue that this has nothing to do with a recording is to forget that what happens to us bleeds through time, our experiences pave the way for other art to come out, and this is the case in the way the listener will appreciate how expansive and solid each track sounds on the album, and as the seismic Heavenly opens the proceedings, as songs and passions such as Shiver, Belong, Breathe, Not This World, Sunshine Ray, and a pair of tracks that have been lifted from the E.P, Nemesis and Sensation, leave their impressive mark on the psyche of the listener, so it is to the understanding of how important it is to have someone, anyone, rich in knowledge, abundant in acceptance be in your corner when you play your song.

A rich and diversely entertaining album, Jody And The Jerms more than Flicker, they sparkle continually with ambition and poise.

Jody And The Jerms’ Flicker is out now and available via JATJ Records

Ian D. Hall