The Grasshopper Pumpjacks
There's a sense you get from The Grasshopper Pumpjacks of a freight train making time, a steady chugging rhythm that shows no sign of slowing down, no intent on stopping. It's an economical bar blues whose songs start as sudden as a needle drop and rattle to a quick stop once they've reached their destination. With every song there's a certain unique familiarity, an immediate trust, like running into an old flame on the street that conjures up sun-drenched late afternoon trysts and the invincibility of youth. The 'Jacks, as their steadfast fans call them, stand like a through-line of rock-and-roll history. They traverse the landscape of New Wave, Punk, and Modern Rock on tracks laid down by Bo Diddley, with engines once driven by Steve Marriott, stoked by the coal fires of Bruce Springsteen, rattling past contemporaries like Bono and The Edge. Like the song says, you don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord for The Grasshopper Pumpjacks
X. Ponent (Eve Respow) "Thank The Lord For The Grasshopper Pumpjacks" End Groove, November 1985