THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “If you’re going play in a band, you’ve got to piss on demand.” So sings James McCann on Piss on Demand, a shredding punk track — co-written with the late Spencer P. Jones — from McCann’s new album Hit With Love.
McCann knows of what he speaks. He has a long history in Australian rock circles (in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, and including early lineups of The Drones and Nunchukka Superfly), and has had a bunch of releases out in France and Spain. James’ new album — his first under the new JJ McCann Transmission moniker — was produced by Rob Younger of Radio Birdman and The New Christs. Younger produced plenty of great Australian rock record in the ’80s and ’90s (Died Pretty, Hard-Ons, Lime Spiders, Celibate Rifles, Hoodoo Gurus, etc.) and more recently Civic’s Taken By Force. Hit With Love is another scorcher.
The new album is McCann’s first new release since he co-produced the acclaimed tribute to his old mate Jones, All The Way With SPJ, which included Chris Bailey of The Saints, Kid Congo, Adalita, Violent Femmes, Alejandro Escovedo, Jim Moginie of Midnight Oil, The Drones, Hoss and more.
Songs like Forces at Work, Don’t Bother Me, She’s Repatriated and Blindsided would be at home in the booze stained venues and shagpile carpet sharehouses of Australian inner-city music scenes of yore. Amphibious Skin and New Machine pack an angular post-punk punch, while Sentimental Crap takes a booze and blues-stained axe to misconceived nostalgia. This is an album that drips with reverence for the past and bursts with passion for the future of rock ’n’ roll. Get it now and feel the love.”
