No Turn Jonx Red by The Jonx

Standouts include Island, with its slow build-up and quick poetry ("We want to say it's wrong to kill / The words we have no longer will"); Cashews, bassist Trey Lavigne's weird self-portrait that starts with basic facts and swells to something more surreal; and Building Tomorrow's Slums Today, a driving, spoken-word squall decrying urban sprawl.

The fact the Jonx — which includes Lavigne, Daniel Mee on drums and Stu Smith on guitar — is able to do this without a hint of pretension is admirable. The band doesn't rely on arty vagueness, nor boring noodling; this is solid rock with brevity and punch. Even discordant moments are engaging in these hands.

The band has grown tremendously since its early EPs. The songs on No Turn Jonx Red are cohesive, and the lyrics are purposeful. The tighter playing is showcased especially well on The Scent of Earth, the 12-minute instrumental that ends the album. Add the band's powerful, spare live show, and the whole package points to one of Houston's most-inventive hard-rock bands.

This is a complicated collection to be sure, but there's nothing so difficult about the Jonx's music that should keep the band playing to just the smart kids on the Houston music scene. It's time for everyone else to take notice.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/music/local/cd/4493083.html

Review from the Houston Press:

By Brett Koshkin

January 25, 2007

Four years and four releases after their start, it's still tough to pin down the sound of The Jonx. Maybe it's the unique time signatures that rampantly chug through the rock trio's recordings. Or maybe it's the ever-alternating vocal duties, which flutter from spoken word to grating dissonance.

Their latest release, No Turn Jonx Red, which again finds no one band member fronting the vocals, is best when they just shut up altogether. The first two minutes of "Escape (This Is Not a Song)" are a lush, delay-drenched dream. The song finally finds the band slowing its tempo and giving a glimpse of sleek aural beauty, if only for a brief moment. Before the listener can take it in, Trey Lavigne's vocals come roaring along with rolling bass riffs. Three songs later, The Jonx return to instrumental works with "The Scent of Earth," a 12-minute lesson in math rock that could make Steve Albini blush.

All in all, No Turn Jonx Red keeps listeners on their toes. Rough around the edges, the group refuses to lose the grit that keeps them distinguished from other bands. And unconcerned with fitting in with other musicians, they write whatever music they want to and explore avenues others just wouldn't dare.

http://houstonpress.com/2007-01-25/music/the-jonx/

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