Jim Jones & Steve Conte with the Soul Resistance at the Bowery Electric

Steve Conte (left) and Jim Jones

Based out of London, England, Jim Jones led the Jim Jones Revue garage rock and roll revival band from 2007 to 2014. In 2015, Jones formed the similar Jim Jones & the Righteous Mind, taking the band name from a book of social psychology. He has now joined New York City-based Steve Conte, who played lead guitar for the second generation New York Dolls and post-Hanoi Rocks Michael Monroe, and most recently has been leading his own band. The new band, Jim Jones & Steve Conte with the Soul Resistance, consists of Jones, Conte, and Conte's arsenal of side musicians: his brother John Conte on upright bass, Brian Delaney on drums, and Craig Dreyer on saxophones and keyboards.

Headlining tonight at the Bowery Electric, Jim Jones & Steve Conte with the Soul Resistance performed a set of 18 obscure rock and roll, rockabilly and blues covers with a flash of funk and punk. These covers included vintage songs by the Coasters, the Sonics, Gene Vincent, and Little Richard, but then escalated through the decades to include songs by T. Rex, the Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls and the Cramps. Jones' deep vocals were forebodingly ominous, and Steve Conte's guitar leads shimmered and simmered. For a few songs, the band was accompanied by blues harpist Dennis Gruenling, whose album Steve Conte produced. There is no word on whether or not this band will stay together and write new songs, but for now Jim Jones & Steve Conte with the Soul Resistance is head-deep in a dark, grimy rock and roll that harkens authentically to the past and speaks promisingly for the future.

Setlist

1. Daddy Rolling Stone (Otis Blackwell cover)
2. Young Blood (The Coasters cover)
3. Human Fly (The Cramps cover)
4. Psycho (The Sonics cover)
5. Lotta Lovin' (Gene Vincent cover)
6. The Girl Can't Help It (Little Richard cover)
7. Troglodyte (Jimmy Castor cover)
8. Turd on the Run (The Rolling Stones cover)
9. Bacon Fat (Andre Williams cover)
10. Ride a White Swan (T. Rex cover)
11. Susie Q (Dale Hawkins cover)
12. The Things (That) I Used to Do (Guitar Slim cover)
13. You Better Move On (Arthur Alexander cover)
14. Parchman Farm (Mose Allison cover)
15. It's Your Voodoo Working (Charles Sheffield cover)
16. Big Bird (Eddie Floyd cover)
17. Encores: Run Run Run (The Velvet Underground cover)
18. Personality Crisis (New York Dolls cover)