Jon Allen: Dead Man's Suit
Jon Allen: Dead Man's Suit
Also In The News
|
Barcelona president Joan Laporta says Manchester City have made an offer to striker Samuel Eto'o that would make him the highest paid footballer in the world. |  |
Monday, 29, Jun 2009 04:05
Monologue Records, out now.
In a nutshell...
Cliché-tastic, predictable, derivative 'folk rock'
What's it all about?
A singer-songwriter talking about love and whatever petty troubles he has going on in his crazy, mixed up life? Surely not another one? Yep, afraid so.
Who's it by?
Mr Allen has toured with some stellar acts that would tickle the taste buds of any over-30s who have a predilection for Rod Stewart ballads, including Seal and Damien Rice. Yawn. However, he has made appearances with other, less tedious troubadours, such as Emmylou Harris and Jose Gonzalez.
He says he has a soulful voice and is into roots, blues and folk music. Thrilling.
As an example...
"I hope you're happy now." Umm... no?
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
If James Blunt can get awards for his brand of lovesick, dreary dross then surely the world is Jon Allen's oyster.
What the others say
"The records smeared and tainted with poppy and easily forgettable melodies which never attempt to truly engage the listener." - Brad Kelly, Strangeglue
"This worthy debut shows promise but, despite their craft, his songs struggle to attain the depth of the truly memorable." - Gavin Martin, The Ticket.
So is it any good?
Derivation. Inescapable, is it not? Influences of past musicians are to be found in every artist's work, even in the most original songs. And yet there is a thin line between taking on influences of others while bringing something new to the table and outright theft. Even with the latter, it is possible to get away with it through either, at the risk of sounding pretentious, parody or post-modern pastiche. But in doing neither it becomes a question of either plagiarism or lazy musicianship masquerading as genuine creativity.
It can be argued that Jon Allen is guilty of the latter. Every song on Dead Man's Shoes smacks of something that has come before. Nothing new, nothing added to the kind of tunes that were virtually redundant in their form and effect at the turn of the millennium.
And the clichés, oh the clichés. "I hope you're happy now", "There's a road that we must follow", "I didn't know that I could feel this way", the list goes on and then some. Why, with the practically countless combinations of words in the English language that can be brought together into coherent sentences, can some songwriters (or word burglars) not say something new or at least something that hasn't been repeated in some form by other musicians? Even nonsense would be preferable. At least listeners could make what they want out of it the deconstruction of language found there.
While the vocals are pleasant, a good voice a respectable album does not make. Indeed, he still sounds like other male singers of days gone by, with a hint of Dylan and a smidgen of Buckley. As the late Michael Jackson might say, Allen needs to take a look at the man in the mirror and start copying him.
1/10
T S Brewster