Music
Press
Issue #21.15 :: By Dino Lull
Composed of ex-Stelle Group singer Chuck Mims with Alex Fulmer, Steven Bailey and Travis Woods; the Jaded Rakes release three songs: “Ticket,” “Coming Up,” and “The Range” on their obviously and aptly titled CD EP "Three Songs."
Three tracks of poppy lo-fi catchy tunes, the Jaded Rakes from Columbia, S.C., hypnotize with their semi-acoustic James Taylor-esque sound.
Slow and melodic, the Jaded Rakes blend classic folk with an alternative adult contemporary feel. But don’t write them off so easily. The wailing guitar work on “Ticket” testifies to a background based in southern rock and perhaps a little Grateful Dead-style psychedelia. The last few bars introduce the listener to what the Jaded Rakes have in store for the last two tracks in terms of electronic pop.
Despite the obvious southern influence in their music, the Jaded Rakes are not some cheap imitation of Kris Kristofferson. Certain aspects delve into the contemplative singer-songwriter genre and perhaps into a bit of the lone country music storyteller, but "Three Songs" by offers something more. The lyrics are modern, bare-bones and tell it like it is. The sound is soft, pop-coated lo-fi rock that ventures into territory that sometimes sounds more like Elvis Costello than Ben Folds Five, for example.
What really sets apart this Southern four-piece from their contemporaries isn’t the fact that they can write a really catchy song and neither is it the ability of their songs to put into words what everyone feels at some time in their life. No, the Jaded Rakes display something wholly new and inventive in the fact that they can take all that makes their folky brand of music good and then update it with some electronic fuzz and pop. For this, the band falls somewhere between many different genres, creating something different for a new generation of pop-folk fans.
- Metro Spirit
Welcome summer: long, hot days; tall, cold drinks; and jeans-and-T-shirt Americana from local foursome Jaded Rakes. Here’s the type of easy-going block party rock ’n’ roll — a little bit Tweedy, a little bit Westerberg — to kick off the weekend. Chuck Mims’ weathered voice leads the band with enough drawl to keep things South-bound, even as his and Steven Bailey’s guitars brush off distortion like red clay dust. Everyman charm at its most authentic. - B. Reed - Columbia Free Times
The name of this not-so-new local band might not be familiar yet, but many of the songs will, as it’s essentially the new handle for The Stelle Group. (Remember them?) Bandleader Chuck Mims has kept a low profile for a while, and in the process of reintroducing the band, he decided to rename it as well. The sound remains the same, thankfully: a mid-period Stones-y vibe with just enough twang to hook the alt-country crowd and a more than usual respect for its predecessors.
- K. Oliver
- Free Times
WHAT’S IN A NAME: The average shelf life of local bands is about as long as national election cycles: two years. Chuck Mims, a scrappy songwriter, has fronted The Stelle Group for 10 years.
Now he’s putting the name to rest.
“Sometimes just the energy level with a project dies,” Mims said. “It got to the point where I kept changing out band members and it kind of diluted what the band was about.”
The Stelle Group, which melded alt-country, folk, decades-old rock and punk, at one point or another counted musicians such as Ken DuBard, Jim Taylor and the Los Perdidos rhythm section as members.
“A lot of people in the music scene have come through that band,” Mims said.
Mims has a new band: The Jaded Rakes. It will make its debut Feb. 7 at Art Bar as an opener for Athens band Venice is Sinking, which is releasing its new CD “Azar.” If Venice is Sinking’s Free Times Music Crawl performance in October is any indication, a lot of folks will be at that show.
“It was the luck of the draw how it worked out,” Mims said. “It’s amazing.”
Initially, Mims was going to perform with a backing band under his own name.
That was before he jelled with guitarist Steven Bailey, bassist Alex Fulmer and drummer Ben Evans. (Fulmer is a Stelle Group holdover.) While there are still Stelle Group songs on the set list, Mims said the quartet will gradually work in more new material, songs that lean toward “power pop, garage, old weird-America music.”
“It’s gonna run the gamut,” Mims said. “I think it’s brand new, fresh.” - The State Newspaper
Discography
Three Song EP - self released promo which has some college radio and internet radio airplay.
Photos
Bio
Breaking out is hard to do, but that’s exactly what Chuck Mims and his new band, The Jaded Rakes, are going to do. Mims is well known on the local mu-sic scene as a singer/songwriter that has melded southern alt-folk rock with elements of classic rock and punk. After teaming up with songwriter/musician Steven Bailey on guitar and keys, The Jaded Rakes, that also includes ex-Stelle Group guitarist Alex Fulmer on drums and bassist Travis Woods, have spent the last year learning how to write songs as a band and not strangle each other in the proc-ess.
That entails adding keys, synthesizer, percussion, and ambient sounds to the jangly guitar rock Mims purveys. A recent blogger compared The Jaded Rakes to both Wilco and the Flaming Lips, which is a comparison The Jaded Rakes are humbled by and happy with.
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