Jacoba were: Geoff Murphy (lead singer/songwriter & guitar), Lee Meier (guitar/vocals), Scott Beecroft (bass), Johnny Peacock (drums) and keyboard player Brian Brough. Although they have had a recent change of line-up and reformed as "UberRoom", their bold and breathtakingly tight live performance ensured them support slots with a scutch of top bands – including “Hell Is For Heroes”, "Four Day Hombre", "Ash" and "Wheatus". They won the regional final of the ‘Global Battle of the Bands Competition’ and, at the World Final at the London Astoria, they created the first mosh pit of the night and instantly added an army of new fans. Check out the video clips on the disc for proof!
The lyrics are intelligent and, at times, more than a little suggestive – see how long it takes you to work out what ‘Liquid’ is on about…and count the seconds before girls in the room begin to blush at the realisation. The sound is completely distinctive. It sways from the pensive and self-analytical to the bold, brash, over-confident guitar riffs that get a whole room bouncing. Their “I’m-sure-I’ve-heard-this-before” hooks (100% original!) get your head bobbing, or your foot tapping before you even realise they’ve got you. The music is fun and playful, but not without the maturity gained from the kind of personal experience and self-reflection that makes good songwriters, great ones. And Geoff’s voice is HUGE.
If you still need comparisons to aid your audio-visualising, there are a few influences shining through on certain tracks – everything from the Beatles Sgt Pepper era (‘Here It Is’) & the Manic Street Preachers (‘Marquis Hudspeth’), to the Super Furry Animals (check out the beautifully laid back jazz vibes of ‘Sleep On It’) & current epic rockers and darlings of the scene, Muse (first single ‘Deeper’)
To listen to clips of Jacoba tracks, click here
To see video of Jacoba playing live, click here
To buy the album
'Easy Listening For Foreigners', click here
To visit UberRoom's myspace website, click here
"..prepare to be blown away.."
- Mike Davies, BBC Radio1
JACOBA