Jada B Nixon
"Psychological Service" CDR
HHR Records
Genre: rock, pub rock
Aug 21 2008 |
Poorly designed and poorly printed, Jada B Nixon's debut CD
faced an inauspicious start in the hands of this trusty reviewer, but
fortunately I'm always willing to give things a fair shake. A Scottish
fivepiece, Jada B Nixon create classic rock inspired music that
is remarkably melodic for its relative obscurity. Despite their noble
influences, however, the majority of these songs turn out flat - they
produce some decent hooks, but the delivery is far from tight, and the
songwriting is uninventive.
To put Jada B Nixon's music into context, they seem to fit
best under the "pub rock" header. I tend to imagine
these folks as gaggle of middle-aged men who played a handful
of shows at local bars and, upon the well-intended advice of friends
and family, decided to put together an album. The resulting record has
a few winners - crowd-pleasers from their nights on stage - but has
been watered down with several less-inspired songs that were written
to fill up time. Indeed, "Divine Intervention" and "Jane Hears Voices"
boast spirited melodies that come through even under
the modest recording conditions and limited
vocal and instrumental skills. Other songs are remarkable in other
ways - "Neighbours" has great energy and a neat spacey vibe, but lacks
a decent hook, and "Ford Escort" is a goofy take on a familiar melody.
Then, there are the tracks that really shouldn't have made it past the
first take: beyond-inane acid-blues track "The Rascist," flat "Keep It
Small," measly slow song "2nd Time Around," brutal "Johnny"... In
fact, it seems as if the longer this record goes on, the worse it
becomes.
Psychological Service is certainly a half-baked effort,
although it has more moments than might have been predicted. Nixon's
songwriting borrows heavily (or, rather, entirely) from the past,
which makes this whole thing seem somewhat dated, but several melodies
prosper nonetheless. Suffice to say, the family and friends of the
band members who buy this disc can sleep tight knowing other bands'
family and friends have it much worse. As for everyone else? Go find
your own band.
jada b
nixon's myspace
65%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 14 tracks + 1
hidden, 61:09, distributed by
the band] |
