IndiePulse reviews: Maybe It’s The Drugs by Jesh Yancey & The High Hopes

Reviewed by Joseph Timmons: IndiePulse Music Magazine

Jesh Yancey & The High Hopes’ provocatively titled new EP Maybe It’s The Drugs is quite reminiscent of the music of the mid / late 60’s early 70’s, a kin to the styles of the Grateful Dead, Country Joe McDonald and bob Dylan. It has that down home folk / country flavor but with a swing back beat, and although music has a classic feel, Jesh Yancey & The High Hopes make it their own with a hot string tone.

Jesh Yancey is a Folk Singer from Fyffe, Alabama. Jesh has been writing songs for over 10 years. During that time Jesh has created a fluid blend of Folk music with blues sensibilities with a keen eye on the world around him.

In a music style the artist refers to as the  “PsycheDeltaFolk” sound, Jesh Yancey creates a music that brings the room together and satisfies the need for good music and a light hearted, somewhat “tongue in cheek” lyrical peak, one where I feel this new EP Maybe It’s The Drugs would be a great title for a Cheech and Chong movie or if they ever decide to do a “Pineapple Express 2” movie.

Listening to this track “When In Rome”, we find our hero dealing with the ever present peer pressure and living to expectations of others, maybe doing things because they are expected and not from a personal desire.

Other tracks on the album are just as rich in colorful analogies and just plain great writing from the talented hand of an artist that has a very good hearted view of life.

Taking his wisdom to the strings, Jesh Yancey has in the Maybe It’s The Drugs EP brings out the musician as storyteller, waxing poetic, with tracks like Ridin’ High, In A Pinch and My Little Soul And Me,  all have points that reference living in a state of anesthetized bliss, as a coping mechanism or justifying a liberal escapism. But the track I have to say is my favorite is the final track Maybe It’s the Drugs, Jesh Yancey & The High Hopes makes a point in referencing some political points, the social irritants here in the USA and abroad, social and ethical dilemmas and how it seems the only way to get by now is to  stay in a drug induced state of ignorance, in a phrase “Its keeping the poor from killing the rich, seems everyone is quite content to bitch…. Just maybe it’s the drugs”, he goes as far as to point out the new wave of medications that have more side effects that the ills they are prescribed for. This EP is  5 wonderful tracks of down home rocking chair brilliance and good clean fun.

http://jeshyancey.com

http://www.facebook.com/JeshYanceyMusic

http://www.youtube.com/user/mrjyancey

http://jeshyancey.bandcamp.com/releases