ALBUM REVIEW: (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson

By Luke Althornious Woolley

tis a lovely album title don’t you think? I certainly do. tis’ also a bloody lovely album.
Stevie Jackson is a member of wonderful scottish band, Belle & Sebastian. He has been planning a solo record for a good while now and finally managed to get time to finish this in 2011. Originally released independently in November of that aforementioned year, it now has a chance at a proper release (Out Now) and it deserves some recognition. having written songs for B&S and also The Vaselines, it feels he deserves to have an album entirely with his stuff on there to strut its musical business for our ears.

The album itself is a fantastic mix of Pop (Man of God), Folk (Birds Eye View), Rock n’ Roll (Try Me), Blues (Press Send) and even a little bit of rapping (Just, Just So To The Point) they all deserve mentioning really, so you can have a track listing at the end of my babblings. Theres even a song that feels loosely based on an old Pirate Chanty format (Kurosawa). Each song is well crafted, layed with acoustic guitars, piano, violin’s, brass based instruments to make them sound like beautifully crafted songs. Mentioning the word “Pop” tends to make people of my generation’s ball sack’s tighten up and keep your sweetbread testicles on lock down. But Pop used to be good, when we could appreciate songs that have had time spent in the lyrics and melodies. Pop wasnt just associated with the techno pesh that you here all the time on todays charts. Sorry. My point was Stevie Jackson has made an album where a handful of these songs would have easily crept up the charts in the mid 90′s. His voice is perflectly rounded around each song, flowing like a wave of clouds drifting in a gentle summers breeze.

The best songs in the UK always seem to be coming out of Scotland and Wales in my opinion, I’m not sure what it is thats causing this, but I have no complaints. Stevie Jackson somewhat reminds me of Welsh Former Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci member, Richard James. He also went down a folk/pop route on his solo outing and with great results. I only Hope for Stevie that he continues to produce some solo action again. With this being a fresh sounding debut I can’t wait to see him “tree out” and produce more records in the futures to cometh.

Hats Off Senior Jackson.

(I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson Tracklisting;

Pure of Heart
Just, Just So To The Point
Try Me
Richie Now
Dead Man’s Fall
Bird’s Eye View
Man of God
Kurosawa
Where Do All The Good Girls Go?
Telephone Song
Press Send
Feel The Morning