Jake Bugg

Reinterpretation of the music of the past

Jake Bugg is a totally new character on the British rock music stage, but his tender age is not a problem for the audience. At eighteen, the Nottingham-born musician is already touring side by side with Noel Gallagher, preparing soundtracks to video commercials, and just recently he has delivered his debut solo album. Whereas the lad is not embarrassed of showing clearly where his music begins from and who influences him so hugely, we can already see that we are welcoming an independent figure with own views and principles. Bugg’s outlook is an image of a musician from the sixties or even fifties, with an intelligent face, simple, yet stylishly picked clothes, and thoughtful glance. In fact, his new album is even produced in the way these songs could remind us of the golden era of rock and being born. But as soon as you listen closely to the texts of these tracks, you will understand that this music is not just blind copying of patterns and standards set up by Bob Dylan or The Rolling Stones. Jake rethinks this legacy and fills this music with new meanings, which must make it urgent for contemporary listeners.

A grownup in the image of a young one

So, Jake Bugg’s debut album, so plainly titled after his name, presents a collection of fourteen songs which can be divided into upbeat rock and roll with traces of blues and folk, and slow country-impacted material As a matter of fact, Jake Bugg starts out like the musician is determined to party and rock hard. Singles Lightning Bolt, and Two Fingers come up as a big surprise with their pace and intensity. This can be explained as the young musician’s vigor to show what he can. Instead, he seems very mature and serious in Seen It All. Having left only his vocals and guitar to sound, Jake describes usual days in the life of a teenager, but he does it as if looking at him through the eyes of a grownup man. Occasional references to drugs and other dirty stuff are not taken as the man’s attempt to show off or shock, but as his invitation to an open, soul-to-soul talk. It is these slow songs with nothing but a six-string instrument as background, where you can see clearly the nature of Jake Bugg, a man and a musician, who once said he is a thirty-year old in a body of a teenager. Technically and acoustically simple, yet profound and touching, Simple As This, and Broken betray his fondness of Bob Dylan and his manner of delivery.

This genre can be wanted again

In the age of Auto-tune systems of voice improvement and equalizing, and massive addiction to R&B, and hip-hop Jake Bugg looks like a man who leaped from the middle of the past century into today’s world. His album employs no rich or grotesque arrangements, and its music has suspiciously little of modern sounding. And only the lyrics, so loaded with signs and details of the present day reality, reminds us that Jake Bugg has just been released. You simply can not ask this lad for more, even if you do not consider his age. Well, maybe the duration of the album is slightly too big. The record could have easily been reduced to just a pack of ten tracks, by removing those that just extend, yet do not bring anything original. But even in this you can find a positive aspect, talking it as Jake’s readiness to work hard writing and recording as much as possible. Having established himself on a leading position in a a genre that is far from being most popular, Bugg is capable of making it interesting again, especially for those who have never known this music before.