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Elly Roberts reviews
Jack Penate: Matinee
Distributed by
XL Recordings
- October 2007
- Rating: 8/10
At just 23, Jack (Fabian) Penate is making serious waves on the music scene.
He's light years ahead of his chronoligical age. Visually, on stage, he’s a perplexing
mix of Elvis’s swivel and some sort of yokel farm worker. Penate is no rock’n’roll
throwback, as his music is cutting edge 21st Century pop, with occassional attitude,
when needed.
His debut is full of the promise his singles hinted at. In the songs, which have
large dollops of his south London twang, especially the rushed ones, he’s never
far away from remembering what makes instant impressions. He can unload a good
bit of rockabilly swagger found on previous single Spit At Stars, though
he’s no budding Shakin’ Stevens.
He writes well, particularly the tender ones. My Yvonne can be nobody else
but Penate, a strummed gem with glorious harmonies, heavenly backups, oh and
that simplest of drum thuds. Stripping things back, just a bit, bumpy soul
inflected Learning Lines is another single contender.
Striking the indie zone, the throbbing rush of Second, Minute Or Hour
shows he’s a match for the Arctic Monkeys anyday, as is Run For Your Life.
Got My Favourite... touches on Just Jack, a nifty dance beast with a
monster chorus.
Going down the cool road, We Will Be Here is a song that defies his age,
boosted by midway thrusting riffs, soaring vocals and lush orchestation. Just
for fun, he slaps down a rasping Ska blast for Torn On The Platform that
goes on a freewheel mission to the dizzy heights of 1978.
A Jack of all trades.
This easy-on-the-ear clever eclectic mix kicks into action with bouncy Middle
Age, a take on the benefits of, well, middle age. With horn blasts, and steady
beat, he reflects on the virtues of middle age, though not melancholically, as
the upbeat brings a kind of celebration. An even catchier Strange Names
follows,and possesses a Springsteen-like quality, with an almost full-on Wall
Of Sound, and funnily enough there’s a New Jersey reference.
Then there’s the atmospheric Simply Spalding Gray that ambles gently
with windpipes texturising the gaps, after which he hits country mode on the
sweet clog-happy Man I Miss That Girl, and in a similar frame he uses
pedal steel to bring out the melancholy of You’re Meant For Me. Best of
the bunch is the mellow, mid-paced My Seaside Brown-Eyed Girl, which would
make an excellent single, and possibly reach the BBC Radio 2 playlist.
Crunching rocker The Baghdad Dream sees Forbert lash out at the Iraq
invasion, in the same way Neil Young had pop on Living With War. Reprising
his best known song and US hit, Romeo’s Tune, he signs off with this
glorious, oh yes, Dylan-like classic.
Worth every penny.
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Spit At Stars
2. Got My Favourite....
3. Have I Been A Fool ?
4. Torn On The Platform
5. Learning Lines
6. Run For Your Life
7. We Will Be Here
8. Made Of Codes
9. My Yvonne
10. Second, Minute Or Hour
11. When We Die
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
For prints of any of Elly's concert pics online,
email Elly
or call 07765 862017.
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
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