Two years going on three is a dangerously long spell of absence in the rock world. Look at The Stone Roses and Stereo MC's, if you need proof. Genius albums followed by silence may help perpetrate the myth, but it's also easy for your crown to slip if you're AWOL for too long.
So, while JJ72'S second album "I To Sky" was an acclaimed affair, the fallout following the departure of original bassist Hillary Woods ushered in a protracted spell of regrouping for this Dublin trio. And you have to wonder whether - with the world currently obsessed with the quirkier, poppy types such as Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and Maximo Park - this is such a good time for JJ72'S moody, intense indie guitars to try to effect re-entry.
Quality-wise, though, download/ limited edition 7" single "She's Gone" is a firm new handshake to proffer. It's loud,slow-burning, angsty and malicious and features both the return of Mark Greaney's wayward chorister vocals and new girl Sarah Fox's nippy basslines. She makes her presence felt in style here, actually, and on this showing she possesses a finely-tuned, Peter Hook-ish sense of melody and melodrama, which can only help the band's cause.
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Not a bad comeback, then. As always in these cases, it's debatable that the level of devotion formerly afforded Greaney and co will ever quite return a second time, but "She's Gone" makes big, bold and convincing noises and suggests they won't cave in without a fight.
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