I'm a bassist, whether it be a four string Behemoth like my 12 pound '76 Precision known as the Beastly Blue Battle Axe or my four valve E tuba, I've worked the bottom end of music since I was 10 years old. I'm programed to hear that first. I can tell if you have a rosewood or maple fretboard, active or passive pickups, and fingers or pick. So, when I heard the first bar of REV JONES Title song "Bakwash" My jaw hit the desk! The sound, the drive, the shred! Not since David Lee Roth's "Eat'em and Smile" have I heard such a magical union of guitar, bass, and drums. Rev Jones is Geddy Lee cranked to  +11 performing triple duty with outrageously high and growly vocals, magical keyboards (as on "Mr Paulie Ester") and of course his monster bass playing, only to be matched by Jim Dofka's stupendous guitar sounds and playing. I haven't forgot Jeff Martin throwing down rhythmic challenges eagerly accepted by the other two, such as the opening to "Songbird".

Each song setup keeps you guessing what is coming up, whether it is a slow burner like "Bette Blue" which has a blues/jazz groove that hooks you from the word go, to "New Drug" that has a simple bass opening but turns into an almost radio friendly that is incredibly catchy and a flourish of piano to end it. The list goes on, every song is a smile inducer, flawlessly performed, heavy on blues/rockabilly sensibility.

This is not a MR. BIG rehash, nor VAN HALEN Shredder wannabe's, this is authentic music played from the core by composers who happen to be extremely talented. They self-produced, engineered and mixed this album which is a masterpiece in sound. The bass is perfectly set in the mix to fill both the rhythm and solo needs with the perfect amount of distortion to make it sound touch but still remain crisp and tight. The guitar has the blend that is both heavy but doesn't infringe on bass territory. The drums are perfectly set into the mix with the right amount of ambient room noise to make them fill out the total sound of the band.

My final thoughts are this is as close to perfection as you can get, with shredding that is actually well placed in the structure of any song you pick on the album. The music is varied but still identifiable, and keeps you interested till the very end. REV JONES' "Bakwash" could very easily be my album of 2019! I highly recommend you give it a listen!