Some songs have hooks. Jackass songs have lassos… Compelling riffs that rope you in & won’t let you go. With genuine “punk-ranchero” styled originals, combined with their infectious “cowpunk” sneer at bubblegum-pop-radio covers, this outfit is one of the most distinctive out there.
Explosive, passionate, & raw, their music is honest (& honestly rocks) in the truest sense. Rough and rootsy, this raucous bunch fleshes out honky-tonk rhythms with an edgy tongue-in-cheek sensibility.
It’s an entertaining and wildly unorthodox take on modern music, and Jackass’s live shows exemplify both the bizarre paths that so-called “popular music” has taken through the decades, as well as the capabilities of its well-honed musicians. Having shared the stage with legendary artists like the late punk-rock poet laureate Joe Strummer (R.I.P.), George Jones, Bad Religion, X, The Reverend Horton Heat, Throw Rag, The Blasters, Los Lobos, Hank Williams III, Manic Hispanic, Exene & The Original Sinners, Flogging Molly, The Supersuckers and Nashville Pussy, the boys in Jackass are making waves in the new music world, wherever and whenever they’re playing.
With founding-member of Bad Religion Peter Finestone joining the group, the Jackass sound has evolved into an explosive and decadent version of “post-everything” American music. Finestone’s high-energy percussion is enhanced by Toby Emery ‘s undisciplined vocal approach and acoustic rhythms, as well as Billy McGraw’s commanding electric guitar. And who knows rounds out the driving rhythm section.
Overall, this is a dynamic and boisterous live show, an intoxicating mix of country-western nostalgia with the power of the early west-coast punk movement.
So, you are now officially invited to one of the funnest honky-tonk shows that modern rock has ever seen. Bred from the scattered oilfields of the Southern California coastline, Jackass slings hard licks ranging from the down-home rebelliousness of American rock ‘n’ roll and C&W to classic punk, with a couple of ass-thumpin’, teeth-grindin’ dips into mainstream top-forty to boot.
Learn ‘yerselves a useful lesson in modern thrash-based punk-ranchero, music fans: Jackass is like Madonna on a gallon of moonshine, Johnny Cash on crack, and the Backstreet Boys with beat-up black eyes! Musically speaking, Jackass fires a shotgun-blast at modern popular-culture, and it’s a shot that’s right on target.
