The 1981 Listening Post - Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons - Dexterity

•  Reviewed by Paul J Zickler
• Released: July 3 1981 Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons Dexterity Genre: Aussie PopSkaBluesJazzSoulReggaeNewWaveRock and Roll Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: Tighten Up Flexible Johnny Kain Rub Up Push Up Jo Jo Zep = Joe Camilleri, vocalist, songwriter and sax player. The Falcons = a swell bunch of guys from down under. Dexterity = the ability to carry out various tasks with relative ease. In this case, said tasks include playing nine different 2 to 4 minute long songs in multiple styles and genres, all with equal energy and joie de vivre, while walking that fine line between workmanlike and memorable, without ever drifting into boredom or annoyance. Dexterity is technically a Mini-Album, known in the States as an EP, or Extended Play. It’s a smidge under 27 minutes long, which means that if you put it on at a house party, you’d have to be ready to queue something else up pretty quickly afterwards. Judging by the overall quality of this record, it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to have another Jo Jo Zep album nearby. You’d have 10 more of them to choose from after all. The highlights depend purely on your own personal musical preferences. I tend to be a sucker for second wave ska, even if I don’t listen to a lot of it, so I found Rub Up Push Up (You Know You Were Wrong) and, to a slightly lesser degree, Tighten Up, pretty irresistible. As previously discussed in a few of my reviews, I’m also a major jazz hound, so the brief, bluesy sax/piano instrumental titled Flexible was another favorite. I’m also deeply devoted to Declan McManus (aka Elvis Costello), whose Get Happy era influence can be clearly felt on the wavish Johnny Kain. This tracks with the previous Jo Jo Zep album I reviewed in 2020, which had three solid EC-influenced bangers in a row. Finally, while it doesn’t qualify as a highlight, I have to mention the last track, Please Please Please, which consists of Jo Jo doing a quick James Brown impression followed by a minute long soul fadeout. I suspect the kids today would call this album a flex. This is a band with chops, showing what they can do, without exerting themselves very much. It may elicit a smile or three, but it’s not going to stick with you. In this case, I think that’s just fine.