Jeff Apter – Sydney Morning Herald 24.4.15
Method – Tales From The New Frontier
The Method men are locals Bill Jacobi and Frank Corby who have worked with Gangajang, Goanna, Shane Howard, Neil Murray, the Stiff Gins and the Warumpi Band. With their forth long-player, which kicks up plenty of dust, they have built a bridge that connects the Delta imagery that is conjured up every time Jacobi rattles the strings on his steel guitar, with the more contemporary crash and wallop of the Black Keys. Must be something about a two-man band, blokes who need little more than guitar and drums. But is their music Americana, as the classicists would prefer, or something closer to Australia-cana? After all, the urgent Train of Thought and the front-porch stomp Let’s Run the Bastards Outta Town are more dusty back road than Dustbowl – and the working-class-unite/beware-the-man message running through Groundwater (and elsewhere) is as authentically Orstralian as a car park punch-up.
Martin Jones – Rhythms Magazine Review May 2015
METHOD
TALES FROM THE NEW FRONTIER
Independent blues/roots
Bill Jacobi and Frank Corby have conjured their own sound as a two-piece, Jacobi’s guitar and banjo nearly always propulsive allowing Corby to be either driving or musical as a drummer. Frequently placed on a swampy blues template and showcasing Jacobi’s unpretentious vocals, the 13 songs on this forth LP from the duo presents a local take on protest and politics, songs like ‘Let’s Run The Bastards Outa Town’ and ‘Groundwater’ exploring the pitfalls of CSG and pollution.
Topically, the album swings between the ‘social commentary’ claimed in their album bio, to the more personal and poignant (the swaying ‘The Drifter’s Lament’ is a personal favorite), to the irreverent and fun ‘Ride’.
The Tweed Echo 2012 by Mandy Nolan
At times like these you need Times Like These. I must admit it took me a couple of listens of this album to get it. Times Like These is a multi-layered record that can only be discovered on the second or third try, then it gets a little addictive. A working man’s record, the first track Wind In The Rushes sets the scene like a dusty sunrise and you are hit straightaway with the surety that you’ll be hearing a lot of great guitar in this offering. The ensuing nine tracks take you on a hopscotch journey skipping back and forward across the blues folk spectrum, and the harmonies on some of these songs border on ethereal. The Wish Song is probably going to be a sentimental fave, but the highlight track for me is the Jacobi/Corby collaboration That Wind with its rocky beat, gravelly vocals and a few techno effects thrown in for good measure. The CD’s last track Ramble is like the cheese and wine at the end of a good meal: very satisfying, delivering a feeling of completion.
Byron Shire Echo 29 June 2010
Times of their Life
Having released their album ‘Times Like These’ late last year, the music Bill Jacobi and Frank Corby make together has been described as an amalgamation of roots, folk, heartland rock and hillbilly funk; but to really get the picture there is nothing like seeing them live. Collectively know as Method, they have been keeping a long distance musical relationship alive for the better part of a decade, over the coarse of three albums and hundreds of gigs. With Frank (drums and vocals) hailing from the Blue Mountains and Bill (guitar and vocals) firmly ensconced in the Tweed hinterland, the miles between have not dampened their enthusiasm for making music together.
Both live and on record, Method’s music is firmly planted in the groove but one also senses a reverence for the story, with songs that reflect the joys and perils of everyday life set against the backdrop of the extra-ordinary times in which we live.
Rhythms Magazine January 2010 by Martin Jones
Those fortunate enough to reside in the Byron Bay area will most likely have seen the duo Method playing at one of their local venues. Drummer frank Corby and guitarist Bill Jacobi have developed quite a pub act, performing stripped down cover of great roots songs by the likes of Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams. But they also write and record original music, this being their third album together.
That said, a couple of those covers have made their way onto Times Like These: ‘Sign Of Love’ by Shane Howard and ‘Another Girl Another Planet’ by The Only Ones. Corby’s two compositions, ‘Communion’ and ‘Moonya’ are a little darker and rhythmically heavier than Jacobi’s- they actually remind me of Hunters and Collectors for some reason.
Of the remaining Jacobi compositions, moody opening track ‘Wind In The Rushes’ and jaunty slide guitar rocker ‘No Invitation’ are highlights,
Byron Shire Echo July 21
They say long distance relationships never work, but that’s not always true. For Frank Corby and Bill Jacobi of Method, distance has made the music grow fonder in a partnership that has lasted over a decade. With Frank residing in the Blue Mountains, and Bill here on the North Coast, it’s a musical combination that doesn’t need hours of rehearsal, just careful planning. Frank and Bill are the proud parents of a brand new self titled album, a clearskin conceived between mountain and sea, and finally birthed here in Byron at Fracas, with Phil Pyne. It was a creative process that took its time, according to Bill who remarked ‘we had some fun and then we mixed it all at home – it gave us a lot of time to tweak things although it had been a long time between drinks. I started building a house, so we got to finish the album two years after we started recording! Building a house was the most stressful and rewarding thing I’ve ever done.’ Now Mr. Jacobi is sitting in his brand new Uki house listening to his brand new CD. It’s a beautifully mastered album, with the first track taking the listener to a more dreamlike place.
According to Bill, Wind in the Rushes is ‘a hypnotic, dark and moody piece, it’s a ‘insomniacal’ adventure, watching the shadows come into the room.’ Jacobi hails from the Blue Mountains, and uses it still as a source of inspiration for his song writing. ‘In a lot of the music I am trying to describe the various joys and perils of everyday life. ‘That Wind is about losing it in the mental stability stakes. The song was set in the Blue Mountains – where right on the edge, there’s a wind that blows for three or four days straight, even stable people start to lose it.’ So what is the glue that has held Method together in lieu of the tyranny of distance?
‘We have a lot of common ground and love collaborating. Frank is a songwriter and singer as well as being a drummer and he sings and plays from a writer’s point of view. To have someone who has that kind of input is great and he is a lot of fun to play with. I feel that my voice is a bit one dimensional and it does what it does, having Frank there really broadens out the sound.’
The recording process allowed this two piece the luxury of adding a few extra levels to their sound. ‘In the production, because we are a two piece we wanted to keep it pretty much to guitar and drums. But if you weren’t listening up close and personal then you kind of missed it a bit – so I had to put some bass on it.’ Method split their year between playing gigs here on the North Coast and in the Blue Mountains. It has afforded them a loyal following in two distinct centers.
‘Frank comes up here every two or three months and we do a string of dates and I get down there as often as I can. ‘We have our original following still, these are people who have moved on and had kids… our first album came out in 1996 and we had quite a big following then. I feel like I’ve been lucky to keep playing, I play bass with Floyd Vincent and have various other side projects, I just keep the balls in the air and keep them juggling.’
The boys launch their new album – Times Like These – in a string of gigs starting at the Court House on Friday, the Bangalow Hotel on Sunday and then the Beach Hotel on Thursday July 30 and Hotel Brunswick on Friday 31.