Search - Jerky Boys :: Sol's Rusty Trombone

Sol's Trombone isn't the only thing that's RUSTY

JC | 03/23/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"OK, so let me preface this post by saying I am a loyal Jerky Boy fan going back to the very first time published JB tape where Rizzo picked up the phone and laid into some poor schmuck about 500 sqft of kitchen ceramic tile. I even remember the first time I listened to it was on a ski trip and I laughed nonstop with my buddies in the car both times all the way through the tape. We immediately took to quoting the cranks and for the six Jerky CD's that followed I remained entertained for every call. Then came 2000 and a falling out of some sort between JohnnyB and Kamal. Whether it was an ego thing or whatever, it's too bad because although I love Rizzo, Sol and Jack, the Jerky Boys are not complete without my friend the Egyptian magician.



Anyway, in January when the new Jerky Boy site popped up and I heard the first news of a new album I was looking forward to it. Even if it was without Kamal, I feel that some new solid Rizzo and Sol cranks are long overdue. I was very dismayed when Sol's Rusty Trombone did not arrive 3/20 at local stores, but I was excited to find it while shopping at Borders a few days later. I bought it and couldn't get it unwrapped fast enough to throw it in my car CD player. What followed was unfortunately 45 minutes of disappointment.



I could sugar coat this and say it is a great CD, but it's not. I am huge fan, but this CD is a waste of time and money. First of all for those who don't know, the CD is full of 98 tracks which are mostly 10 second one-liners by Rizzo, Sol, Bob, Pico and Jack intended to be "ringtones" or "voice mail greetings". These are lame skits that try to be funny by coining phrases from old Jerky Boy album pranks. Either way, this is crap I would expect a guy like Johnny B to throw up on a website as free content for the fans. Honestly, you can get the same effect by logging onto various prank websites and playing with the Sol and Jack soundboards you can find there.



In my opinion, the Jerky Boys whole appeal is the spontaneity of calling some unsuspecting schmoe and laying into them with a barrage of nonsensical jabber that leaves them either aggravated or at a loss for words. If you take out that element, you lose the appeal. This crap with the one-liners or scripted skits between characters is not funny.



Now down to the 6-8 actual prank calls on the album. LAME. Rizzo/Sol calls some fishing outfits asking dopey questions about bait and tackle, Rizzo calls a voting lady, and there are a few other calls none of which are memorable. In all cases, the pranks are lame and the people he calls aren't playing into the prank. They either get annoyed and hang up quickly or don't get sucked into the ploy. Some people might find these funny, and there are a few times I chuckled (like during the quick jerk calls) but I challenge anyone to say that this measures up to the previous Jerky Boy albums.



I heard chatter in the Jerky Boys forum about a possible full prank call album by JohnnyB later this year. I frankly hope he takes his cut of the $9.95 I wasted on this CD and invests it into renovating his edge. I would love to see him patch things up with Kamal and bring the fans back the quality humor we enjoyed from them in the 90's.





*** By the way, I posted this review on the Jerky Boys official website forum and my post lasted all of 2 hours before I was censored by the website admin. I feel the above is very constructive criticism and it is unfortunate that they can't take this and need to censor opinions of loyal fans like me. Apparently they are worried that if too much information is shared about this obismal effort to make a quick buck off the Jerky Boy legacy that the word will get out and nobody else will buy it. I hope at least I can save a few Amazon customers the ten bucks."

Rip-off!!!

Rollin' Deuces on Da Blinga' | livnlarge411712@aol.com | 03/23/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I was excited to see a new Jerky Boys CD after such a long hiatus. Going to the website reveals nothing substantial about this CD and apparently that's intentional, because this CD is a big rip-off. 98 tracks on the CD and only five or six are devoted to calls. A couple are funny, the rest are so-so. I had heard about the split between Johnny Brennan and Kamal, and when there was a new CD marketed under the Jerky Boys name after so long, I'd assumed they had patched things up. Wrong again. It's all Johnny Brennan. The rest of the tracks are rehashes of Brennan characters doing bits from old calls and packaging them as answering machine messages or ringtones."

Be careful, Jerky...

S. Lewis | Rochester, NY | 03/22/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Jerky fans beware - this is not a CD full of 98 new calls. There are 6 new calls, and 92 voicemail/ringtone-related bits that, at best, highlight past jerky calls. Some might get you to smirk, but don't expect to split a gut at these. I love the JB's, so I got a hold of this regardless. Hardcore fans might do the same. I am sad to see that this time around, it's just Johnny and his trademark characters making an appearance. I did hear about the split between Johnny and Kamal a while back - I suppose they never really reconciled. Or just not to my knowledge. (After some searching around, I see Kamal also released a solo effort - "Once a Jerk, Always a Jerk")

All that said - the calls that are on here are pretty funny. You'll find yourself listening to these the most, and skipping over the rest after 1 or 2 plays.

"