Lead Lined Clouds & Get Past Go: An Interview With Chris Jack of The Routes & Show # 976

The Routes have been releasing music since 2007, but lately they have been putting out two, or sometimes more releases a year. The band is lead by multi-instrumentalist/main songwriter Christopher Jack and currently features drummer Bryan Styles. In 2022, they released The Twang Machine, a surf tribute to Kraftwerk that works so well, in 2021 two instrumental albums (Instrumentals II and Shake Five) were released in addition to Mesmerised, a psych, reverb doused collection of tracks with vocals. While they are a garage punk band, they often blur the lines of that title pulling other influences creating something different each time. At the end of 2022, the instrumental album Get Past Go! was released and in February 2023, the garage-psych album that pulls in post-punk influences titled Lead Lined Clouds was released. 

“Axe To Grind” opens Get Past Go! Said to have a 60s California sound, this track splashes with reverb drenched guitar, fuzz guitar and bass in the chorus with dynamic drums that almost seem to levitate as the song progresses. “Twist Each Word” hits hard with organ, drums and well, twisted 60s sounding garage riffs mixed with surf reverb. The song cuts deep as drummer Bryan Stiles shuffles through this instrumental track that gives off driving down the sunset strip at night vibes. “In A Rut” is another standout track on Get Past Go! The tempo comes down a bit while the drums, organ and bass hold down the groove and surf riffs float overtop, more reverb arrives with the title track “Get Past Go!” pulling in Ventures soundscapes as it builds to an intense guitar crescendo, “Had Your Time” pulls in country and western sounds, in addition to Spaghetti Western soundtrack aesthetics, “Jamas” picks up the pace with stop and start reverb doused twangy riffs and bouncy basslines, “Like A Knife” comes in at track number eight on Get Past Go!. Another highlight, the chemistry on this track is strong with its drum rolls, crashes and Dick Dale & Ventures inspired descending guitar riffs that cut through the din of modern day boredom.

“Wani” brings up the organ and bass with the drums. Musically, the instrumentation glides forward making way for guitar, which flies above juxtaposing sunny surf with hazier atmospheres, “No Going Back” is another high energy surf track, it changes pace keeping you on your toes as foamy guitar riffs move with the fluid drums and bass. “A Day In Hell” features amped up almost jazz/bossa nova drumbeats in the verses as fiery guitars overtake the choruses and middle section of the song while the bass drives everything in the background, “Too Much To Take” ends Get Past Go! A louder sweeping guitar track, it blends soulful basslines with rolling drums, while wild guitars echo back and forth with reverb, twang and attitude. Get Past Go! features songs loosely based on songs in The Routes back catalogue that are soaked in garage, twang, Spaghetti Western influences and the sounds of Dick Dale, Link Wray, The Trashmen and 60s surf compilations. With Get Past Go! The Routes propel past the finish line.



The Routes released Lead Lined Clouds in February 2023. It features vocals, garage, psych, proto punk, organ and post punk influenced sounds. The album continues the thread of previous Routes releases, while at the same time not straying too far from still sounding like The Routes. “Drained” starts off Lead Lined Clouds. The guitar and organ blend seamlessly on the opening moments as the drums rumble in the background, while Jack sings of the draining of monotony from the negativity that can surround us on a daily basis, “Lead Lined Clouds” comes in next with a Stranglers influence mixed with 60s and psych sounds. Lyrics such as “Are we really so dumb/Or is it just greed/That we can’t get along/History repeats” and “And all the clouds are filled with lead/Waiting to fall/Fall on our heads” display an existential outlook taking on issues of greed and corruption, contrasting it against a sense of hope that once may have seemed present. “No Good” pulls in shoegaze, indie, garage and post punk elements making nods to bands My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Seen Better Days” attacks with Syd Barrett fuzziness juxtaposed with strong Kinks-meets-Alien Lanes-era Guided By Voices styled melodies while the lyrics “I have been waiting on the line/I need assistance can’t you find/Find someone who can deal with me/Someone with sympathy” and “I'm not done but I’ve seen Better Days/They looked away” are melancholic as the character in this song tries to navigate the world while they deal with their own internal conflicts. “Attention” features dizzying organ, heavy hitting drums, while the chorus hits with fuzzy guitars and lyrics explore themes of obsessive, yet oblivious attention seekers.

“Opinions” features the lyrics “I never realized/What’s eating me inside/Now I’m a different guy/Take it all in my own stride” and “Opinions/I have one myself/You should shut up/Keep it to yourself,” that delve into social media related ignorance, but at the same time like the music found on this record could have more meanings, in this case it could also be relating to stubborn opinionated people. Musically this track adds more alternative UK sounds in the mix. The simmering organ, guitar fuzz and drums found here are incendiary. “Inside Out” is almost fragmented as the influence of The Fall comes to mind and lyrically the song confronts themes of aging, the mesmerizing sounds of “Shrunken Heads” with the lyrics “Hung out to dry/Your shrunken head/It was your choice/We're all left for dead” that deal with themes of corruption and propaganda, create a potent musical mixture drawing on influences of The Fall, The Stranglers and The Modern Lovers. “Only Us and Them” ends Lead Lined Clouds. A more mid-tempo number, the lyrics offer a critique addressing themes of paranoia. Musically it festers with the 60s sounds of bands like The Standells and The Count Five, while the drums and bass recall the erratic rhythms of post punk. Throughout Lead Lined Clouds, universal themes of austerity, old age, corruption, propaganda, social media and mental health are found all over its make up. The Routes pull no punches here. While they are a garage punk band, they are unpredictable and don’t revel in nostalgia. With nods to bands of the past, Lead Lined Clouds hovers with darker themes as The Routes reveal to us to a world that may not be exactly what it seems.

You can find Lead Lined Clouds through Otitis Media. 

Get Past Go! is also available through Otitis Media or find them both digitally Bandcamp and other streaming services. 

Listen to an interview that Revolution Rock did with Chris Jack of The Routes here: 

Revolution Surf 2023 Playlist (Chris Jack of The Routes Interview)(Originally Aired On February 25th, 2023):

1.  Pitted - Wah-Bah (So Pitted - 2021)
2.  The Surf Hermits - Jet City Rumble (Showdown - Sharawaji Records - 2022)
3.  Magnatech - Oll'n Trekker (Impala '59 - Sharawaji Records - 2022)
4.  Jim and the Sea Dragons - The Murder Hornet Twist (The Murder Hornet Twist Single - 2022)
5.  Huevos Rancheros - Wild n' Wendy (Endsville! - C/Z Records - 1993)
6.  The Forbidden Dimension - Haunted (Sin Gallery - Cargo Records - 1993)
7.  Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet - Hunter S. Thompson's Younger Brother (Dim the Lights, Chill the Ham - Cargo Records - 1991
8.  Urban Surf Kings - Penguin or Robot? (Penguin or Robot? - Reverb Ranch - 2014)
9.  The Routes - Like A Knife (Get Past Go! - Ottis Media Records - 2022)
10. The Routes - The Robots (The Twang Machine - Topsy Turvy Records - 2022)

CHRIS JACK (OF THE ROUTES) INTERVIEW PART I

12. The Routes - Shake Five (Shake Five - Topsy Turvy Records - 2021)
13. The Routes - Snail Love Story (Instrumentals II - Groovie Records - 2021)

CHRIS JACK (OF THE ROUTES) INTERVIEW PART II

14. The Routes - Yeti Spaghetti (Instrumentals - Groovie Records -  2012)
15. The Routes - Noise Annoys (Unreleased - 2023)
16. Takeshi Terauchi & The Blue Jeans - Rashomon (Rashomon - King Records - 1972)
17. Link Wray - Jack The Ripper (Jack The Ripper - Swan - 1963)
18. The Astronauts-  Hot Doggin' (Hot Doggin'/Everyone But Me Single - Victor - 1965)
19. The Ventures - Stop Action (Where The Action Is! - Dolton Records - 1966)
20. The Mel-tones - Sorrow Bay (Surf! Spy! Space! - LoveCat Music - 2006)
21. The Surfrajettes - Marshmallow March (Marshmallow March/All I Want For Christmas Single - Hi-Tide Recordings - 2022)
22. Lulufin the Woo Hoo - Jellyfish (Jellyfish/Bamboo Twist Single - Hi-Tide Recordings - 2018)
23. The Surfdusters - Chill Out (Save the Waves - Fireball Records - 2011)
24. The Ichi-Bons - Switchblade (Ich-I-Bon #1 EP - Hi-Tide Recordings - 2023)
25. Bloodshot Bill - The Sludge (Songs from the Sludge - Hi-Tide Recordings - 2022)

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the February 25 file to download/stream the episode.