TRUTH & JANEY - No Rest for the Wicked, 1976 (USA, hard rock) (Montrose MR 376)

The late-'60s power trio format made famous by Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience sent inspirational shockwaves across the rock & roll universe, and among the most isolated examples of its influence must have been eastern Iowa's extremely obscure cult hard rock band Truth and Janey. Taking their name from the seminal Jeff Beck Group album, vocalist/guitarist Billy Janey, vocalist/bassist Steven Bock, and drummer Denis Bunce (original percussionist John Fillingsworth lasted less than a year) began penning original material, recorded a pair of singles in 1972/1973, and then evolved into Truth and Janey when informed that another band already held rights to the Truth moniker before them. Arduous roadwork in the neighboring states kept the band busy in years to come, but the absence of a major record deal eventually drove them to finance their own album -- a fierce and bluesy hard rocker to be entitled No Rest for the Wicked -- at a studio in nearby Ames, IA. This they released through a local independent label, and its 1,000 -unit pressing quickly sold out among their dedicated fans in the region -- but that was it. With no apparent career-advancing prospects in their near future, Truth and Janey disbanded the following year, with main man Janey turning to blues and adding a "Lee" to his name before recording several albums throughout the '80s and '90s. Truth and Janey's modest legacy was kept alive by their few cult followers and eventually led to an official CD pressing of No Rest for the Wicked by Monster Records (which added all four of their single A- and B-sides, to boot), and a legendary live performance released in 2004 as Erupts! Not to be dismissed because of its underground status, Truth and Janey's only LP, No Rest for the Wicked, was another incredible find for indie record label Monster Records, which has always specialized in digging up long-forgotten American hard rock nuggets from the '70s, but really struck gold this time around. Boasting a swaggering, bluesy grit, piercing twin-harmony licks, and the most righteously ferocious rhythm guitar tone this side of Ted Nugent, opener "Down the Road I Go" instantly establishes the band's '70s hard rock aesthetic whose roots, not surprisingly, lie in English giants like Cream, Jeff Beck, and even more so in Rory Gallagher's Taste, on this particular track. The powerful influence of these '60s guitar heroes can also be heard in Truth and Janey's revved-up blues covers (Willie Dixon's "I'm Ready" and Mississippi John Hurt's "Ain't No Tellin'") and groove-driven originals ("The Light"), while a slightly more distinctive voice emerges in truly memorable, half-electric/half-acoustic creations like "It's All Above Us" and the title track (showcasing frantic sprints between six-stringer Billy Janey and powerhouse drummer Denis Bunce). And this being the '70s, there was bound to be a progressive-sized epic on hand, and it's pleasant to discover that No Rest for the Wicked's entry -- a nine-minute opus called "Remember" -- is no throwaway. Quite the opposite, as it offers at least four or five contrasting passages that range from delicate melodies accompanied by equally timid falsettos, to dexterously improvised jazz-rock breaks, to orchestrated battalions of ascending hard rock power chords, climaxing intermittently in sterling guitar histrionics. (Followers of overlooked Welsh trio Budgie and Canadian legends Rush alike take heed of this, and also the familiar, Alex Lifeson/Rush "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" effects on "My Mind.") Bassist Steven Bock, the last bandmember not yet named, was no slouch himself, not only producing all of these tracks, but sharing duo and solo lead vocals with Janey to give most of these tracks yet another Cream-descended flavor. Sure, Truth and Janey depend pretty heavily on dual guitar harmonies for a one-guitar power trio, but that's just wasteful nit-picking for a band so long departed, and whose overlooked gem of an album still sounds so amazingly vital and engaging today.

Personnel :
STEVEN BOCK bs, vocals
DENIS BUNCE drums, vocals
BILLY JANEY guitar, vocals

Tracklisting :
1 Down the Road I Go 3:59
2 The Light 5:43
3 I'm Ready 3:30
4 Remember 9:04
5 No Rest for the Wicked 4:48
6 It's All Above Us 4:23
7 Ain't No Tellin 3:38
8 My Mind 5:57
9 Midnight Horsemen 3:08
10 Around and Around 2:19
11 Under my Thumb 3:43