Jim The Kid – Orange Juice (Feat. Moe Lowe)
Genre: Lo-fi Rock, Indie Rock, Garage Rock
I remember the time that I read in the NME that Yngwie Malmsteen was a wanker! It was all on account of the fact that he could play guitar really well. The writer asserted that someone who likely had spent so much time locked in a room in order to learn guitar scales had to be, well, a wanker.
I did not agree, of course. But, I can certainly understand the regular music critic’s distaste for people that take playing ability too seriously. After all, usually, the people that spend too much time learning facts and figures about anything are, at best, geeks and, at worst, mentally unstable.
Jim The Kid’s Orange Juice does not sound like the work of someone that has been forced to sacrifice much of his life in order to learn guitar scales. In fact, the recording sounds charmingly unprofessional. This is where its potential greatness lies. It sounds like a song that a friend may have shared just after swiftly recording it. It sounds like you could have a beer with the person who made it. When’s the last time you felt like you could hang out for a can of Swedish lager with Yngwie?
Love’n’Joy – Half Home
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
“You either got it, or you don’t” is the way that talent for various artistic activities is explained, generally, by people who’ve never so much as whiffed natural ability. Well, for the most part, this is wrong. Give your dog enough time, and they’ll likely learn to paint the Mona Lisa or, at the very least, dogs playing poker.
But, yes, there are exceptions when the age-old saying can apply. It doesn’t fit every style of music, however, when it comes to rockers delivered with confidence and even a sense of the mystical, you either got it, or you don’t. Like Keith Richard writing tunes while a guitar from his ankles and playing it with only two fingers, some people simply have a knack for these kinds of things.
Ukrainian rock group Love’n’Joy’s Half Home shows that their love of psychedelic garage-rock is not merely superficial. They possess an understanding of what grooves, what swings, and what can be presented in front of a live audience. They are rockers with a knack for melody and knowledge of British rhythms. Not everyone can learn to rock, regardless of how much effort they put in. Love’n’Joy don’t have to put in too much effort.
