Pop Reviews : Jones Keeps B.A.D. Fresh

How was ex-Clash guitarist Mick Jones’ band at the Hollywood Palladium on Tuesday?

Not B.A.D.

No, it was B.A.D. II, the new edition of Jones’ Big Audio Dynamite. And atypical of sequels, the Roman numeral designation is a good sign, an indication of Jones’ intent to keep his music fresh. On stage Tuesday, the band--with Jones the only holdover from the original B.A.D.--did offer a fairly effective marriage of electronic-based house dance styles and good ol’ guitar rock.

Live, B.A.D. II is more forceful than on the new album, “The Globe,” and nearly as playful. But as with the original B.A.D., it’s a bit frustrating to see someone with Jones’ history laboring under the self-imposed limitations of his chosen genre. The pulsating rhythms got rather tedious, with variations only in the rates of beats per minute, and the several real guitar-rockers were welcome relief.

Still, if anyone has a right to the style, it’s Jones. He’s shown a head for modern dance rhythms since the Clash’s early reggae forays, and the Clash’s “Combat Rock” album set standards for dance-rock fusions while the members of Happy Mondays, EMF and Jesus Jones were but lads. The new band (which also plays at San Diego’s Open Air Theatre on Sunday) doesn’t exactly fulfill that legacy, but a least it’s, well, not bad.