The second album by Jerk With A Bomb, who later became Black Mountain.

Originally released in 2001, this is the second Jerk With A Bomb album, when they were still a duo comprised of Stephen McBean (singer/guitarist/songwriter of Black Mountain & Pink Mountaintops), and Josh Wells (drummer/keyboardist/vocalist for Black Mountain and Pink Mountaintops). Fans of the Black and Pink will instantly identify McBean's soulful voice and sombre personal apocalyptic lyrics, and Wells sparse and colourful percussion and simultaneous keyboard playing. McBean also handled the bass duties in JWAB. Of course, back then they were still known as "One Easy Skag" and "The Silo", rather than Steve & Josh; the two guys leading the new hippie revolution and playing ping pong with Coldplay.

Stylistically this is a songs-first duo, who have elements in their music that could be genre-lized into the camps of folk, country, rock, punk, experimental, jazz, and new wave, but to put it into focus, without using the sadly over used terms “honest” and “heartfelt”.
Indeed, while Jerk With A Bomb are indeed a two piece “band”, who’s members do play and record primarily live and somehow wield multiple instruments at the same time, the focus here is not on any sort of whacky (nor virtuoso) talent, nor is it based on any bizarre fuck band novelty rock aesthetic…no sir, Jerk With A Bomb are about real songs, good songs, melancholia without a shred of self absorption…and perhaps the idea of having only 2 members fill the role of 3, 4, or 5 is caused simply by not wanting to dilute or somehow make less pure the delivery of strong material written with such obvious passion.

REVIEWS
-------------------

AMG Rating 4 Stars

AMG REVIEW: Seemingly Canada's response to Ween, Jerk With a Bomb could well have ended up the answer to a question nobody asked but move beyond the duo's silly noms-de-rock (One Easy Skag and the Silo, respectively) and their sophomore effort, The Old Noise, reveals itself to be a suprisingly heartfelt stab at slow-motion alternative country, delivered with genuine grit and sincerity. Jerk With a Bomb's simple guitar'n'drums approach forges the polished chicanery of Ween, They Might Be Giants, and other goof-rock twosomes, at times instead recalling the gothic twang of another duo, the all-but-forgotten House of Freaks; an odd but complementary new wave influence curses through the disc, disrupting the overall rustic minimal tenor at just the right moments. - Jason Ankeny
ALLMUSIC.COM

I'm not sure if mere words can justify how enjoyable this album is. In a day and age where honesty is hard to find, Jerk with A Bomb come to the rescue. One thing that makes this album so great is how closely it resembles their live show. They choose to eschew all of the fancy studio effects to make this record, which contributes to the label of ''minimalist'' or "stripped down" Yet to attach a label to this local two-piece outfit would retract from the beautiful lyrics, the weeping guitar riffs, and the solid song arrangement. This Old Noise switches between cry-in-your-beer tunes like "Dead Moon" to the handclapping jig of "Somethin' Else" a song that has often inspired live audiences to grab a partner and cut a rug. I guess it would be wrong to write a review without mentioning that these guys go by the monikers of One Easy Skag and The Silo, and that One Easy Skag plays an guitar and sings while The Silo plays drums and keyboards at the same time. It also wouldn't hurt to mention that The Silo looks like the cute little elf who wants to be a dentist from the television classic Rudolph The red Nosed Reindeer
Discorder

Consisting of two knuckleheads from Canada that crawl around in dirty dungarees on the outskirts of No Depression territory. They arm themselves with just guitar and drums (and some keyboards, dosing folk, country and rock with a tired-eye feeling of melancholia. I swear I hear bits of the Archers of Loaf in here, without the broken strings and cracked ideas. The band doesn't wail so much as sluggishly moan its songs for the everyman. While the general overall atmosphere of a grimy Guthrie wandering the fields remains throughout the CD the duo manage to stay astray of tedium by keeping the songs loose and fresh. I can't say that all the tracks picked my corn, bill I'll give them loads of credit for trying something different.
[Scratch] Les Scurry
Your Flesh

Plaintive and vocal tunes from this Canada band. Almost American in its ''country dirt road, desert heat, drive slow, sunset feel" but they've got sunsets in Canada, too, don't they? The songs tell stories, paint pictures of heartbreak on your soul... '' Fake my heart and throw away the key/ Oh Your splendid curse leaves me helpless on my knees.'' There are moments of clarity built with waves of emotion. The music is at the same time minimal and full, like the ocean. Drums and guitar, bass and some keys, throwing together a world that combines the epic quality of The Dirty Three, the drive of Calexico, and the raw honesty of Bright Eyes.
Marcel Feldmar - Ink19

Jerk With A Bomb is basically a two piece band from Vancouver, BC, Canada with one other previous album under their belts, "Death to False Metal." The two members go by One Easy Skag and the Silo. Jerk With A Bomb play a brand of rock that doesn't even come close to ''Jerk'' music. For the most part the duo plays a mellow mix of folk and rock that is very gentle at the best of times. They stick to a stripped down lo-fi sound that just barely keeps moving while the vocals tie they whole mess together. Guitars are still distorted but the chords are very spread apart and the drums sound like they are just barely being played. At times they even throw in some shaggy country in just to see if you are actually listening. Jerk With A Band are out to please only themselves and hope to gain a few loyal fans along the way. With a sophomore album such as The Old Noise One Easy Skag and The Silo won’t have much of a problem.
MusicEmmisions.com

Against a backdrop of empty cities and dirty factories, Jerk With a Bomb sings songs of gloom. Utilizing mostly acoustic guitar drums and organ, the duo take folk and blues, infuse them with Stones-like attitude, and play beautifully sullen tunes about feeling lost. Kicking off with the dark murder story ''Partners in Crime" their latest album The old Noise delivers haunting atmosphere and chilling lyrics, but with an undertone of hope for something better. On a certain level Jerk With a Bomb play warped gospel songs. They're constantly evoking "The lord'' and ''our savior'' but in a hopeless, ''help me lord my life is lost to the devil'' sort of way instead of the traditional celebratory tone that gospel hymns have. "It's over, my anchor has just jumped shipped again," the lead vocalist (the album Credits list the members as One easy skag and the silo so it's one of them) sings on "Tragic Anatomy" and you get the feeling that it's the story of his life. Nothing goes right, everyone's wandering lost around a bleak wasteland but maybe someday something better will come along. ''Let's rip that moon apart tonight my love / sleep with angels," is the cry of a restless man, one looking for deliverance in some for m, whether it comes from a spiritual revelation or through a good old fashioned revolution.
dave heaton ­ Erasing Clouds

Local Album of the year: Jerk With a Bomb, The Old Noise
Why do I so often choose music that depresses me? I don't know. All I know is, with the lights out and the blinds drawn, I relish the state of torpor induced by lo-fi dirges such as ''Factory Aches'' ''Dead Moon" ''Prison Highways'' and and "The Devil's Ire'' Pass the razorblades.
The Georgia Straight

Shambling forth at a funereal pace, dirges such as ''Factory Aches'' and ''The Devil's Ire" make a case that Jerk With a Bomb is aspiring to become Vancouver's answer to the terminally downbeat Black Heart Procession. Lyrics such as these, from ''Dead Moon" only add to the gloom: ''Dead moon so bright/on this cold winter's night/and 1 wonder if we'll ever find hole's No party record this, but for those long, dark nights of the soul (not to mention those long, hung-over brunches of the soul), it has its charms. And it's not all bleak. The upbeat, organ-driven ''Somethin' Else'' simply rocks, and the instrumental ''Prison Highways'' lurches along like something out of a campy '50's monster movie. Mostly, though, you'll want to save The Old Noise for those evenings when the ash-black sky above feels like the lid of a cage you can't pry open, and your only companions are a half-empty twenty-sixer of JD and a fresh pack of razorblades.
John Lucas - The Georgia Straight