1/2 JESUS JONES : “Doubt” : <i> SBK</i>

Patience is rare in pop music today. Record executives and the public alike seem unwilling to give artists time to develop. Frankly, few deserve it. Mike Edwards, the creative mainstay of London’s Jesus Jones, deserves it. (See Pop Faces, Page 59.)

Edwards himself indirectly addresses that on the standout track of the group’s second album. “Right Here, Right Now” is a sharp meditation on the very cultural impatience that turns current events into instant history. If not exactly a great leap for mankind, it is strong enough to raise hope that, given time, Edwards might just become a Pete Townshend or a Ray Davies.

The elements are already in place: The hard/soft contrast between the bravado of much of the music and the titular doubt of many lyrics recalls the Who. And the cynical nostalgia of “Welcome Back Victoria” is quite Kink-y.

Edwards still has a long way to go--several brilliant songs accompanied by a mix of good genre exercises and some outright filler does not make timeless art. But hey, isn’t that pretty much a description of the first few Who and Kinks albums? Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five stars (a classic.)