Jake Martin - 'For Fuck Sake Jake'
(Aaahh Real Records)
Defining this record is like trying to hit a constantly moving target.
Theres a restless, double-caffeinated feel to Jakes 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 Jakes guitar and vocals. The songs need
no more than this and its to his credit that hes 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