JOHN J PRESLEY

A wise man once said “a man with a beard knows the blues like the back of his bristles.” Now, that wise man may have been me, but that doesn’t make it not true. Living and breathing proof of that is John J Presley. Mixing raw garage blues, with a darkly folk tinge, John J Presley has been steadily gaining an army of followers, of which Radio 1’s Zane Lowe can count himself amongst, with his raw and ready penchant for fuzz.

Now, the Brummy born Blues boy is gearing up to release his debut single ‘Left’, out on Killing Moon on the 26th May. Clocking in at a mere 2:21, Left is short and anything but sweet, more like a Jack Daniels soaked, blues stomper. Driven by its unrelentless thumping beat, the track is a glorious combination of dirty distortion and durable drums built around one almighty soaring riff. The darkly, sinister vocal delivery brings to mind Nick Cave or even Tom Waits, but here Presley manages to make the pair look positively cheery. It all culminates in a cacophony of grunge, with that beastly riff left clinging on for dear life as its final breaths splutter out. You can almost taste the whiskey from here.

Words by George Shaw

Tipped by Killing Moon, The Great Escaepe & Generator