- Label
- XL
- Release date
- 8th October 2007
- Genre
- Indie
Rockabilly and ska-loving young scamp delivers infectious boogie of a debut
In the po-faced and posing world of indie pop, Jack Peñate cuts a refreshing figure. The grandson of writer/poet Mervyn Peake is a smiling, check-shirted, rockabilly-loving ball of energy, seemingly transported back from the Fifties in a time machine designed by Bill Haley. All skiffle guitar boogies and runaway train rhythms, the 23 year-old Londoner adds wide-eyed confessionals and sing-along choruses that provide an innocent contrast to his contemporaries: the sass of Lily Allen, say, or the street-wise swagger of Jamie T.
It’s endearing stuff, up to a point. Spit At Stars, Torn On The Platform and Second Minute Or Hour bounce perkily along at breakneck speed with a sugar-rushing exuberance. It can, however, all get a bit exhausting while Peñate remains lyrically clunky: "On city streets you need to be careful who you speak to" he declares somewhat pointlessly on Run For Your Life. Fortunately, you can catch your breath when he eventually slows down with tenderly soulful closers When We Die and My Yvonne – then breathe a sigh of relief that Peñate is no mere Housemartins revivalist. This warm breeze of a debut promises a bright pop future.
More to try: The Housemartins: London 0 Hull 4 The Maccabees: Colour It In The Kooks: Inside In/Inside Out
