Take a Trip to Shangri La4 Out Of 5 Stars
The latest in "new Dylan" wunderkinds is 19 year old Jake Bugg, a Brit who sounds like he popped out of the Greenwich Village clubs with his enigma fully intact and a sophomore album called "Shangri La." And yes, that's a compliment. He's plugged in and has Rick Rubin on his team to peel back any unnecessary varnish that might have gotten stuck to the kid had anyone tried to polish him up. He's such a young gun that his voice even sounds like it has acne. That nasal bleat on "There's a Beast and We All Feed It" could only come from someone too young to realize that he hasn't conquered the world just yet, but old enough to think that it should be listening to his every pronouncement.
Jake Bugg can run the gamut from that hard chugging opener to the more introspective "Me and You."
"All these people want us to fail
But I won't let that happen now."
He sings this line like he's a knight coming to a rescue. The kid excels in earnestness. The closest I can recall another album that believed in itself so definitively was Ryan Adams when he released "Gold," and I like "Shangri La" so much more than that album. His age is not a hindrance as he tackles some adult themes on "Storm Passes Away," along with a decent pedal steel, or the street denizens of "Messed Up Kids."
There is a lot of raw talent on "Shangri La," and it's good to hear a young talent that isn't spun off the hit-making machinery of some TV Talent contest. You may have to get past the nasal twang in the young man's voice (which is why he wouldn't have lasted an audition for the likes of "American Idol"), but give yourself an opportunity and you'll hear what sounds to me like a first class singer-songwriter on the way up. Jake Bugg is the real deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment