There’s a definite feeling of ‘good timing’, if that’s the right way to put it (maybe appropriate timing would be better), to the release of Second Wave, the latest single from Jersey rockers Hot Juice as it’s landed half way through the second week of Guernsey’s second ‘lockdown’.
A year ago phrases like Second Wave and ‘lockdown’ didn’t really mean a huge amount but now they are part of our standard vocabulary and that’s something frontman Shay Barker and co are very much concerned with here.
Based in their now well established hard rock/garage rock sound, with a hint of something akin to Terrorvision thrown in this time for good measure, we find Hot Juice railing against the powers that be and the ongoing situation, specifically in Jersey but plenty of other places too, in a way that has a more universal feel than it might at first seem.
As well as that this is possibly the most complete song the band have ever released clocking in at nearly four minutes and showing a general development on their raw but rocking earlier tracks, maintaining the energy but adding something new, even if it’s not quite as upbeat, for obvious reasons.
While it’s rallying cry of ‘when will they give us back our rights’ isn’t one I can exactly connect with directly in this context at this time, it’s clear why Hot Juice, and many others, may have that feeling at the moment and that helps make Second Wave a great new development for the band while capturing something of the spirit of now very nicely.
Tommy Girard 