'Morning, it’s another pure grey morning' begins Jake Bugg's debut, an apt accompaniment to my bus journey to work on a miserable Wednesday in Yorkshire. Bugg's lyrics have an air of reminiscing and nostalgia which transcends his relatively youthful presence, although his voice seems to come from a man much older and wiser than his 19 years. Songs which speak of bittersweet heartbreak like 'Simple as This' will be and instant hit with whimsical small-town teens. Angst and frustration at his less-than-glamorous life growing up in Clifton are unleashed in 'Seen It All'. However, the LP is far from melancholy; the whole thing is filled with optimism, ambition and a sense of escaping the miserable little places we all claim to come from.
At 14 tracks, Bugg's album is long, and if he didn't seem so humble some might say slightly self-indulgent, but after the success surrounding his EP, you can hardly blame him for wanting to include the songs which brought him to our attention in the first place. The lo-fi sounding 'Trouble Town' (allegedly recorded via iPhone, perhaps the 2012-equivalent) sounds a bit out of place to me, perhaps reflecting how a debut album doesn't necessarily mean it should be a collection of his entire work so far.
Similarities have been drawn to The Coral, and their Scouse-Pop ancestors The La's, yet the album feels thoroughly up to date despite its retro sound (he talks himself of wishing to have been born 40 years earlier). Comparisons to Alex Turner's down-to-earth yet charmingly insightful lyrics are hardly surprising, but Bugg is no copycat poet. This is a really original, impressive debut from a truly talented young songwriter, and is undoubtedly full of instant hits as well as lasting moments. The fact it's just knocked Mumford and Son's latest offering of folk-based drivel off the top of the album chart is an amazing achievement, and I really hope this isn't just a flash-in-the-pan success story. I look forward to seeing Jake Bugg on his February tour, and I'm sure this LP will keep me cosy on many a grey bus journey over the next few months.
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There's certainly moments of promise on the album but it's worth noting that the LP's a little stretched. There's a lot of filler, particularly on the second half of the record and there's quite a few reminders that lyrically he's no Dylan (a man who he's crassly, and wrongly, been compared with). For an 18 year old that's had his record rushed along by a huge record label it's still a pretty smart showing.
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