Jake Bugg

Perhaps it's my age or perhaps it's the times but Bugg has come up with something that's been missing for 30 years in a package that others just might get. Simply put, he writes his own music in a way that is both poetic and accessible. There are flaws here and there in the production of the album but one comes to accept and even enjoy them with repeated listening. It all seems to make sense. Considering his age, Bugg has an uncanny sense of his world and is able to convey that through lyric and music. At times, one has to chuckle at the, sometimes, jaded life he presents when we know he's only 19 years old - but, once again, he manages to pull it off. On the other hand, there are 19 year olds who have "seen it all".As for musicianship, he's truly fine. If you listen to earlier recordings, he sometimes (rarely) has timing issues and pitch problems but those have evaporated in the short time (a year and a half) he's catapulted from total unknown to shooting star. He is one of the most musical people recording today. His melodic sense is enchanting. People like to say he has a gravely voice and that both his voice and songs are reminiscent of a young Bob Dylan. Quite a compliment but I think I actually like him better than Dylan and his songs make more sense. His voice isn't gravely either - it's just different. At times it's nasally but he's really studied it and his voice is unmistakable, a very unique signature without any pretense.He's pure and simple, extremely melodic as well as an adept player. Most of all, he sings from the heart where we discover his tenderness, vulnerability and honesty. Our world has become jaded and too complicated a place where savoring a song that might touch your heart has seemingly gone by the wayside. There is nothing shallow about Jake Bugg.

Jake Bugg`s debut album is simply stunning. 14 catchy songs, most of which could easily be released as A-sides of singles, which of course many of them were. It is the album I have listened to most times this year. (In other words my ears were occupied with other music seven years ago, but good music will always `get` to me at some time...) Gladly I have never bothered much about trends since my teens, if `need` be I can create my own. Critics get the music for free, I have always bought the music simply because I like the music. Donovan and Dylan seems to have inspired Jake Bugg . and I dare say Oasis too, forever kings of Britpop (and beyond). I am especially fond of the opening song `Lightning Bolt`,`Note to Self`, `Simple as This`, `Trouble Town` to name just 4 of 14. This is good time music for anyone with ears. Follow-up album `Shangri La` is 5 stars too. All the best from Snorre Fjær.

Jake Bugg's self-titled CD is a delightful freshman set. "Lightning Bolt" sizzles with retro-originality to open the set with its up-tempo melody and some tasty electric guitar as it breaks into a brief bridge, "Everyone I see just walks the walk with gritted teeth, but I just stand by and I wait my time; They say you gotta toe the line; They want the water not the wine; but when I see the signs, I'll jump on the lightning bolt." "Two Fingers" rocks with more delightful 60s-retro melody, "I got out, I got out, got out alive and I'm here to stay." "Seen It All" has a delight pop feel with an upbeat melody and a dark lyric about a stabbing at a party with Jake's voice wry, loaded with shades of expression from excitement to regret. "Broken" is a sweet slow-tempo track that sounds like it has a moving story hidden between the lines whatever they mean, "Wheels like tong to the winter lope." While these are my very favorite tracks on the set, there are no clinkers. With an eye to our musical past, Bugg reinvents the future. Enjoy!

This was an accidental discovery that I am really glad I made. I was browsing Rolling Stone reviews when I saw the one on Bugg's debut CD. It intrigued me, so I went to YouTube where I found several of his videos. I was immediately enthralled.You definitely hear influences from early Bob Dylan and the Beatles (post Hard Days Night), but the overall influence is the Merseybeat era (listen closely though and you will hear an homage or two to Woody Guthrie). Jake Bugg is a great story teller as well as an accomplished folk guitar player. At just 19, his songs are filled with adolescent angst and ennui, but delivered unpretentiously and with amazing melodies. Bugg doesn't have the emotional depth that Bob Dylan had upon his debut, but clearly we can expect to be hearing plenty more from this young man.The highlights of this recording include the opener "Lightning Bolt," followed by "Two Fingers," which has a catchy anthemic refrain. "Trouble Town" is another venture down the sometimes-violent reality of working class youth in northern England, but not as grisly as the picture painted in "Seen It All." And then there's the haunting "Broken," where Bugg's vocal range broadens and the emotion comes straight from the gut.They're all good songs. There isn't a throw-away among the bunch. Why only 4 stars rather than 5? Because I know he can write something even better than this. I am anxious to hear what he records next.

All good!

Es un disco increíble, no puedo creer que tan joven escriba letras tan profundas. Ame cada canción.Lo recomendaría plenamente.

Le recensioni positive sono già così numerose che non mi resterebbe altro che dire: è un disco da acquistare al volo! Oppure posso unirmi anch’io al gioco delle ascendenze vocali e dei riferimenti musicali per questo nuovo talento che posa nelle foto con aria da adolescente duro e consapevole dei propri mezzi (spettacolari le due nel libretto, frammischiate ai testi, con la sigaretta tra le dita!) Alla voce mi sembra una via di mezzo tra Paolo Nutini e Noel Gallagher. Grande varietà di ispirazione nello stile e molta retro-mania (inconsapevole o voluta, sarebbe già un bel dibattito). Lightning Bolt in apertura sembra Woody Guthrie, ma quello rifatto da Dylan. Two Fingers subito dopo ci porta verso il pop degli anni settanta (Hollies, T.Rex?) Di nuovo Dylan per Taste It, Seen It All e soprattutto Trouble Town. E avanti così, nel più divertente e arbitrario dei modi, fino a trovarci l’eco di John Denver in Country Song e in Broken (bellissima !) quella di Simon & Garfunkel in Simple As This o di James Taylor in Someplace . Tutte valutazioni assolutamente personali che altri potrebbero contraddire tale è la gamma dei possibili richiami/riferimenti. E tutte piacevoli, perché questo è quel che conta per segnalare e acquistare un disco. Però non chiediamogli di essere il nuovo Bob Dylan o chissà chi altro. Anche Dylan al primo disco pensava di essere Woody e poi diventò Dylan. Così per Jake Bugg, se son rose …. Intanto godiamoci quest'opera prima: se non è un esordio pentastellare questo, quale altro?

Je vais essayer de faire court. Je pourrais dire : « N’hésitez pas une seconde, c’est super, achetez le ! ». Fin de la chronique.Je pourrais aussi développer un peu. Alors je dirais qu’effectivement, le disque de Jake Bugg est un excellent cru, malgré son jeune âge. Il propose un son sec et chaud à dominante acoustique, encombré d’aucun complexe, dans une palette sonore plus large qu’il n’y parait au premier abord. En fait, Jake synthétise et recrache du haut de ses 18 ans 50 ans de Rock. On y retrouve un mélange harmonieux d’une filiation US et d’un canal British, puisant dans la country-folk (Country Song) dépouillée des premiers Dylan (et la pochette de l’album est tout sauf un hasard), les blues secs du sud pré-électrique (Trouble Town, Fire), le rythme et la mélodie d’un rock pur façon Eddie Cochran (Lightning Bolt), les mélodies rocks imparables si anglaises (Two Fingers, Seen It All qui sent bon l’Oasis), le old-folk anglais (Someone Told Me)…Alors Jake n’invente rien, il n’y a pas de révolution ni même de réelle évolution (contrairement à disons Alt-J - jeune groupe de jeunes aussi – révélation de 2012, qui innove et brouille les pistes, ou à Dylan, en son temps), mais Jake fait bien plus que de parodier ses ancêtres : il les rhabille, les honore, les dépoussière, les revisite, et avec un tel talent, une vraie fraicheur, qu’il est difficile de résister. Et cette double influence vous donne tout de même un p****n d’album avec les meilleurs morceaux qui sont selon moi bien plus que la somme de leurs sources (le si simple et si juste Simple As This, le triste et beau Broken, Someplace également triste et beau, Note To Self où pointent à la fois, comme deux fées au-dessus du berceau, Bob Dylan et Nick Drake).A savourer. Et si ça vous fait réécouter certains de vos vieux disques, tant mieux, non ?

嗚呼、素晴らしい。思わず感嘆が漏れる。本当に、「Two Fingers」をラジオで聴いたときは、まさかまだ10代だとは考えもしなかった。そんな古きよきギターロックを現在進行形で響かせる、英国期待の新星、ジェイク・バグのデビューアルバム。かき鳴らされるギターは無骨な雰囲気もありつつ、それでいて洗練された音の流れ。シンプルで力強くて、ときどき脆い。歌声も、青臭い歌詞の世界観も良い。そしてなんといっても、メロディーが素晴らしい！懐かしく、人懐っこい、素直なメロディー。メジャーコードは温かく、マイナーなアルペジオさえ優しく心をなぜてくれる。もはやノイズさえ心地良い。このメロディーだけで堪らないものがある。まずはどの曲でもいい。一度視聴してもらえれば、この感動を共有できるはず。小細工などない、在りのままの音楽。こんな素晴らしいアーティストが、この時代に現れた奇跡に立ち会えたことと、彼の音楽史をこれからリアルタイムで追っていけることが、とても嬉しい。これはきっと半世紀経っても聴き続けている。そう予感させてくれる大器の名盤。