Jake Martin - 'For Fuck Sake Jake'
(Aaahh Real Records)


Defining this record is like trying to hit a constantly moving target. There’s a restless, double-caffeinated feel to Jake’s songs, particularly in regard to his lyrics which oscillate between positive and negative emotion in a 2am stream-of-consciousness way.


Looking out and in at the same time, his songs serve up the attitude you would expect with titles like ‘Revolution Is Always Late’, but they also have a self-portrait quality about them which kind of marks him out as a wolf in punks clothing.

 


Perhaps this is why the 5 songs are tempered with sparse arrangements – a bit of cello here, some chanted backing vocals there – the only constant being Jake’s guitar and vocals. The songs need no more than this and it’s to his credit that he’s put his rough-but-soulful voice front and centre in the mix. His guitar playing is also very strong, with a country-ish (!) feel reminiscent of Evan Dando at times.


In the best summary that I can offer, ‘FFSJ’ is both simple and complex, effervescent and plaintive, all and none. Pretty impressive for one man and a guitar.

https://jakemartin1.bandcamp.com/

Rich