After a lengthy, unexplained hiatus and no new material in eons, I, along with many other fans, thought the Jerky Boys were finished. After all, it had been almost six years since their last CD The Jerky Tapes was released, and in that time Jerky Boys creator Johnny Brennan and former partner Kamal had a less than harmonious split. And while Brennan kept busy doing voice over work and Kamal got into the movie industry, it looked as if one of the greatest comedy acts of all time was no more, relegated to being little more than a fondly remembered relic of the mid 1990's.

But with the March, 2007, release of Sol's Rusty Trombone, Brennan resurrected his well-loved cast of characters for a new generation in this bargain priced CD. Before I continue, however, I want to make a few things clear;

This is NOT a typical Jerky Boys CD, at least in the sense that it isn't like any of the ones that preceded it. There are prank calls on here, yes, but with only a few of them featured in this particular collection, they seem more like an appetizer for things to come than anything else. The bulk of the CD consists of Jerky Boys themed messages for your voicemail and ring tones for your cell, all done with Brennan doing his familiar "Jerky" voices. In other words, the CD plays like a gift for his longtime fans--especially those of us who would have KILLED to have Frank Rizzo barking at callers on our answering machines back in the day.

So, for that reason, this would not be the CD I would use to introduce The Jerky Boys to the uninitiated. People unfamiliar with the first few CDs will miss most of the references the characters make, from Frank Rizzo's "drinking problem" to Sol Rosenberg's many bizarre phobias. To that end, I would recommend getting familiar with the JB back catalog before listening to this one.

The good news is that longtime fans of Brennan's work should find much to enjoy here. If nothing else, it's great to hear him voicing Rizzo, Sol and Jack Tors again, characters Brennan knows so well that he could probably do them in his sleep. Perhaps that's why some of the highlights of the CD come from his lesser known characters like Rosine, a Hispanic chick with strange fetishes for both balloons and lobster, and Bob The Cattle Rustler, a good 'ol boy who likes to give nauseatingly vivid descriptions of his ass. (I'm hoping to hear more from these characters in future releases. It's a credit to Brennan's talent as a voice actor that he can convincingly portray both a "hoochie coochie" woman and a loud-mouthed redneck, among many others.

Bottom line? This CD doesn't compare to the classic Jerky Boys releases, but it isn't meant to. It's Brennan's way of getting his characters back out there. A new, interactive Jerky Boys CD is in the works for release later this year, as well as a possible cartoon show featuring the characters. (I'd love to be a writer for that show, let me tell you.) In the meantime, this CD serves well as a "thank you" to his many fans, as well as a precursor for things yet to come. The Jerky Boys are alive and well, and by the looks of things, Johnny Brennan is just getting started. Hallelujah.

People wanting to purchase the new CD should go HERE
or just go to the official Jerky Boys website.

-JTL

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