Album Notes

For those of you not yet familiar, john thursday is not a man. "He" is a Chapel Hill, NC based foursome that specializes in an eclectic and unique brand of music. Covering Pop, Funk, Swing, Blues, Rock, and returning to Funk, john thursday never stays in the same place for long. Barry Koslow (guitar), Evans Nicholson (drums), Kent Hobson (bass), and Jimmy Magoo (lead vocals) blend their diverse musical backgrounds into a powerful sound that's both inventive and familiar. "Backseat Magellan" is the full-length follow-up to the band's successful self-titled EP.
"The musical sophistication found on the first album has now blossomed into a new collection of tunes that are intelligent and tasty"
-Philip Van Vleck, The Spectator Magazine

More review clips:

"Yet another Chapel Hill band that diverges from the supposed "sound." john thursday plays a funk-based brand of rock that draws on many sources. One hears some of the dark subjects and heavy guitars of Seattle, but with a funk groove that won't quit. In short, these guys can PLAY."

"Everybody has one, a secret album that not many people know about (or remember) but means something. It is important to you, evoking wistful memories of a time long since past. You don't listen to it much now, but you'd never part with it.

Mine was When the Eagle Flies, by Traffic. I was just 10 years old and I wore the record out. The feelings that album evoked - the floaty yearning mixed with a sincere appreciation for incredible musicianship and the pensive lyricism just did me in. I still covet that record.

A few months ago I stumbled upon a Chapel Hill-based quartet called john thursday, and I can't exactly put my finger on it, but like Traffic, that band's music just vibrated at a hidden frequency that resounded in me like a gong. Their second CD is a collection of impossible-to-classify tunes, brilliant vocals, serious guitar chops, masterful arrangements and lots of tongue-in-cheek attitude."