The poisoned chalice of ‘Next Big Thing’ that labels so many bands that it’s now become worthless has been tagged to Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong and it appears to be fairly misguided. Introducing himself as ‘Joe, and these are the Jing, the Jang and the Jong’ and entering the stage after the band had played an instrumental shows him to have a touch of Borrell Syndrome. Never a good start. Then there’s the way Joe Lean moves, his attempted Jaggerisms make him almost uncomfortable to watch, and he looks awkward and…well…just strange. Joe Lean’s voice is a Marmite one too, you either will love it or hate it, but you can’t deny it’s an eccentric one. Maybe that’s the best way to describe Joe Lean. There are glimpses of their punk laden indie potential, songs like Lucio Starts Fires in particular but with so little released, one limited edition single and then Lonely Buoy which got little play, how much response can be expected. Joe Lean did recognise this, apologising for the little coming out the J.J.J studio but this tour could have done with waiting until the album was released, familiarity with songs is key if the songs rumble into nothing and aren’t going to grip the audience straight away. It also doesn’t help if your upstaged by your support band, Beggars, too. Beggars are certainly ones to watch out for, 60’s pop with 3 part Beach Boys harmonies in tow, hopefully Joe Lean et al were watching.
