Category Archives: Nearly A Sin
ONE THE JUGGLER Nearly A Sin
Catchy glam inspired rock and pop is the name of the game here. Songs like the danceable opening track “Enjoy Yourself”, the radio friendly pop confection of “Mr Wolf” and the glam influenced “Passion Killer”, highlighted with catchy vocals and saxophone start the disc in an irresistible way…Nearly A Sin is an enjoyable nugget from the past, and if you are a fan of new wave, glam rock or just catchy tunes, One the Juggler will be well worth your time.
Sea Of Tranquility (September 2015)
The bulk of this deliciously dated set was penned by singer-guitarist Rokko Lee, including their minor hit single, ‘Passion Killer’ and an assortment of moderately arresting ditties clearly influenced by the likes of The Velvet Underground, David Bowie and their much better known contemporaries the Psychedelic Furs.
Kevin Bryan, Regional Newspapers (September 2015)
Utterly spunky and fast-paced is track 12, titled ‘Patience Of A Saint’ with its dominating drum beat courtesy of Steve Nicol, and its peculiar spoken-word ending (‘You could be responsible for the thousands of outbreaks every year! Keep it clean, keep it cool, keep it covered!’). Whatever that means!
…bonus highlights include the speedy ‘Rip The Cat’ – a track that would be perfect for films such as The Monster Club. A honking sax solo by Trimmer and a relentless frenzied beat and stop-gaps whip you into action on the dance floor. Meow!
All in all, this is not only one hell of a groovy album but the bonus tracks don’t come across like any left-over material that’s been added just for the hell of it but each and every one is a little gem in its own right.
Music-News (August 2015)
Nearly A Sin is worth exploring, especially because the music cannot be put into one box.
Keys and Chords (August 2015)
Kickstarted by a short invitation of ‘Enjoy Yourself’ and rounded off with an orchestral reprise of the booming ‘Damage Is Done,’ the record gets playful, if threatening, in the riffs and cries of ‘Mr Wolf’ whose mariachi funk is taken to dance in ‘Django’s Coming,’ yet there’s a violin-enhanced spirituality to the singalong ‘Blind Old Senator,’ where Rokko’s yelp and acoustic strum ride Lin Minchin’s twang. But it’s ‘Barnaby’ – propelled with Lushi’s bass and Steve Nichol’s drums and lifted by a string section – that shows the full, symphonic scope of the ensemble’s artful creativity.
DMME.net (July 2015)
It’s a bit of a mystery why this album didn’t do better because it has plenty of good songs, notable singles, good musicianship plus plenty of song-writing depth. Maybe it just didn’t have that hook-laden shallowness that is demanded of the charts. It’s a shame that the band didn’t persevere though, it would have been interesting to see how they would have evolved and matured. Something that maybe Lushi wonders about too, ‘I don’t think you ever know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. We just knew we had our own sound that was difficult to pigeon-hole and we really came alive on stage. I guess, to a certain extent, we were a band out of sync with the times.’
Paul Rigby (The Audiophile Man) (July 2015)
Angel Air Records has FINALLY released this gem on CD, adding nine bonus tracks including non-album b-sides, unreleased recordings and ‘It Hurts,’ a rare post-album single that matches the quality of the album. And the liner notes? Well, I can’t make a comment about those since I wrote them, but they offer a history of the band with input from band members Rokko and Lushi. So, grab yourself a copy, listen, read on and give One The Juggler the respect they deserve.
discussionsmagazine.com (June 2015)
…it might be savvy to admit they were Suede before Suede were out of school. Frontman Rokko’s drunk-on-the-glamour-of-sleaze vocals, the clever set-ups and choruses suggest as much, and it’s easy to see what Ronson heard in them…From the satisfying singles Damage Is Done and Django’s Coming to boho anthems like Blind Old Senator, there’s a remarkably deft blend of Pretenders’ style and Psychedelic Furs’ bile.
Classic Rock Magazine (June 2015)
…I try to avoid comparisons but I don’t think anyone would argue with the obvious Bowie/Mott/Roxy vibe going on here. Indeed Bowie was a hero to the band and Mick Ronson was lined up for the producers chair on the follow up album. N.A.S. needs, in my view, a good few listens to get the aforementioned influences out of the head and get down to the essence of the band. Clever lyrics and some memorable melodies emerge ‘Django’s Coming’ and ‘Damage Is Done’ are two examples. The interplay between acoustic and electric guitar is neat and the band can certainly rock when they want to. I get the overall feeling that like so many bands OTJ were no doubt a great ‘live’ act who didn’t quite capture their all on disc. However if you like glam rock with a twist you’ll love this and the quality of the recording is first class. The band has recently reformed and will be playing gigs. I think its quite possible I’ll go along to one!
SMART Seventies Music And Retro Talk (June 2015)
“Enjoy Yourself” is a great album opener, kicking into “Mr. Wolf”, which careens into “Passion Killer”, and then the album never really lets up. It’s a strange trip, and one that does not seem that it would have had the commercial push that it did in the UK. Albums like this are made for music fans, not for new wave kids (which could account for it’s lackluster performance in the charts).
allmusic.com (May 2015)