Wild Nothing
Gemini
Captured Tracks
As a music writer, I’ll admit I sometimes fall into the same cynical and jaded, seen most of it all already thinking of most writers and critics out there. Readers would probably think that just about everything has been done before and that there’s no real reason to bother trying. But fortunately, that really isn’t the case. What I’ll say – and you would have probably heard this at least 500,000 times if you’ve been paying attention – is this: the technological advances of the last ten years have fundamentally transformed how music is distributed, how we listen and consume music, how we think about music and how music is produced. The old industry model of a few major conglomerates dictating taste and trends are vanishing like an endangered species. Never before has it been easier to record an album and distribute it or start up a label and distribute albums as it is right now. And of course that means that there’s an amazing influx of shit out there that runs the gamut from the truly bizarre to the tried and true, and to the terrible. In fact, there’s such an influx of stuff out there that it’s become difficult for people to discern the wheat from the chaff, as they old saying goes. (That in itself is a difficult issue way beyond the scope of my review so we’ll leave that for another time!)
In the last couple of years, there’s also been a trend for solo artists giving themselves a moniker and setting out to recording albums on their own including Josh Mease, Bon Iver, Will Oldham (as Bonnie Prince Billy) and tons others that I seemed to have forgotten. Wild Nothing, the solo effort of 22 year old, Jack Tatum joins this group but with a heavy emphasis on early-mid 1980s Brit pop – that is guitars played with controlled bursts of reverb and guitar chords that seem to chime like bells. Songs like “Live in Dreams,” “Summer Holiday” “My Angel Lonely” and a couple of others sound reminiscent of the Smiths – mainly “This Charming Man” and “The Headmaster Ritual.” “Confirmation” with its synthesizer-created electronic beeps, boops and blips, and a looped drum machine backed beat, sounds a lot like very early New Order. The fact that such a young man can lovingly create sounds that replicate some fascinating music may make some swoon with nostalgia. After all, music that makes such a powerful emotional connection, that speaks so deeply and profoundly is rare thing and an even rarer thing to find. In the Smiths and New Order there was something truly genuine that inspired the creation of their songs and it was truly heartfelt. However, in Tatum’s Wild Nothing effort, that heartfelt creative essence that can turn mere imitation into something new, just isn’t there. These beautiful, beautiful sounds are at times ruined by Tatum’s high pitched and off key warble and indecipherable lyrics. Surely, Tatum has some musical talent and it’d be interesting to see if he develops a truly unique sound, hopefully inspired by the great 80s Brit Pop he’s been obsessed over for so long.
Released on May 25, 2010
Track Listing
1. Live in Dreams
2. Summer Holiday
3. Drifter
4. Pessimist
5. O Lilac
6. Bored Games
7. Confirmation
8. My Angel Lonely
9. The Witching Hour
10. Chinatown
11. Our Composition Book
12. Gemini
