Jason & the Scorchers

• Fervor [EMI America EP, 1984] A-
• Lost and Found [EMI America, 1985] B+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Fervor [EMI America EP, 1984]
Crossing Gram Parsons's knowledge of sin with Joe Ely's hellbent determination to get away with it, Jason Ringenberg leads a band no one can accuse of fecklessness, dabbling, revivalism, or undue irony. The lyrics strain against their biblical poetry at times, but anyone who hopes to take a popsicle into a disco is in no immediate danger of expiring of pretentiousness. And to spice this repackage of the Praxis original, somebody came up with the perfect perfervid gesture--Blonde on Blonde-era Dylan at 180 miles per hour. A-

Lost and Found [EMI America, 1985]
It's the punk side of country punk that takes imagination for a Nashville boy, so unlike his bicoastal brethren he throws himself into rocking out and doesn't think awful hard about words or tunes. This is rarely the most effective way to rock out. He gets by this time, but he's running on attitude, and attitude has a way of running thin. B+