Junkbox

Junkbox deal in back-to-basics, stripped-for-action, high-octane rock’n’roll, with an affectionate nod in the direction of those who gave birth to the Blues. Three is their magic number. Darren Van Asten on vox and guitar; John Devolle on lead guitar, and Shoko Ariba on drums. No bass. Why? Because it is superfluous to their needs. The word is spreading via radio exposure courtesy of John Peel (RIP) John Kennedy Xfm, Alan McGee and Rob Da Bank (and others). Their sound connecting with the right people in the right places, and as planned, the band are being judged on their own merit, nothing to do with whom they are seen sharing drinks at whichever ‘hip’ bar the previous week. THE 'JUNKBOX' SOUND. Junkbox play with a raw, unrefined passion, but they get it right. They strip it right back to basics, nothing here is excess to requirements; everything is in its place, tighter than tight. Who needs to embellish needlessly when you can articulate such emotion, passion and ingenuity with the crude set up they choose to use. We can make an educated guess at who’s in their record collections – The Stones, New York Dolls, The Sex Pistols, The Cramps, The Birthday Party, The Fall, Pussy Galore, Royal Trux, The Blues Explosion, The Make Up ad infinitum. Yet they sound different from everything else – appearing out of nowhere yet still being in all the right places at the right times.. Explanation anyone? There have been Voodoo, meningitus fueled, near death experiences, mystery stomach viruses, head injuries and traffic accidents, stories of staring death in the face and coming out the other side relatively unscathed. There’s more, best not mentioned at this juncture, that’s quite enough to be dealing with at present. LIVE Junkbox are a must-see live band, often incorporating improvised segments into their set, sometimes, out of these improvisations new songs are born. Darren’s occasional random streams of consciousness onstage, find him indulging in similar freeform poetic dalliances to that of Sean Ryder at his psychedelically altered best, spitting out pearls of wisdom like an Uzi automatic spits out lead, whilst the accompanying sound meted out by this six-legged, bastard Blues-Groove machine defies anyone not to ‘shake their thang’ to their lascivious, voodoo beat. Over the last 4 years Junkbox have toured extensively all over England and made excursions into Scotland, France, and the USA, they have toured with the likes of the Libertines, Babyshambles, Primal Scream, and Little Barrie RELEASES TO DATE ‘Guru’ (EP) – 2006 Re-Action Records UK – RARL 2 ‘Junkbox’ (LP) – 2006 Re-Action Records UK – RARL 3 ‘Junkbox’ (LP) – 2005 Park the Van Records USA – PTV05 OTHER STUFF Junkbox have recorded 2 Live Sessions for John Kennedy at XFM, 1 for the Joe Cushley Show on Resonance FM London. as well as appearing on Fealrless TV Cable Channel in New York on Fealrless TV Cable Channel in New York