Jack Penate - 'Matinee' (XL) Released 08/10/07

Pop music these days has far too much innocence. As James Blunt writes another love song and Scouting For Girls dedicate another live performance to a “lov-er-ley” girl, we’re in need of help. Of course, if you were in the know, you’d have predicted pop’s saviour months ago. And while we finally know how to pronounce his surname correctly, Jack Peate has timed the release of his debut album to perfection. And for the saviour factor? Well this guy is obviously pretty darn rebellious. Outside of music, he squirts out arty graffiti images in clubs and gets fined for it. True story. He’s a softy at heart though; see the lyrics on ‘Got My Favourite’ for example - “For my mum who I owe all things” and most moments in ‘Matinee’ are touching romantic love notes turned into songs.

Only he and the Maccabees have succeeded in not sounding too innocent while declaring love, and the Londoner takes full advantage of this talent throughout. So this more than hotly anticipated debut starts proceedings with previous fan favourite and quirky song #55, ‘Spit At Stars’. In a live performance, it would start things perfectly, so why change it on record? He knows what he’s doing, so do his record company, that’s why this album has been so hyped up. A criticism would be that he’s far too commercialised, and should have sat on the sidelines for a bit longer before diving into crowds of screaming girls. The recognition has pissed off a lot of people: the musical fanatics who can’t understand his charm, and the fans that hate it when a musician gets popular. And yes, personally, I went into reviewing this album with an attitude that disliked Jack Penate with a mild passion and couldn’t quite figure out why he was going to be so huge. But this album explains a lot of things.

The man has talent, and he’s only got his eyes set on one style of music which will make girls dance and make guys cringe. The twee-nagers are fans, and ‘Matinee’ won’t do much to change things. Main problem is nothing flows here. All the hits are scattered about so no listener will get bored and while it was probably a decent idea, every end note of the previous song completely differentiates with the opening note of the next one. And that’s usually something that’ll put people off. While ‘Have I Been A Fool’ gives a less-sappy, more-soulful impression than other songs, you can’t last to enjoy the moment because it’s instantly followed up by the words, “Once more just before Im leaving, Torn on the platform”. Yes, ‘Torn On The Platform’, that hit that promoted Jack from hopeful indie star into the top 10 hit league. It annoys the shit out of many, but there was no way that he could leave it off the album. The “miss you”‘s and “love you”‘s are priceless to the fans, it’s the Jack Peate song. And even if you may despise the bloke, you have to hand credit to him.

A musician who had a mission to defend the indie-pop scene and he’s succeeded in doing so, balancing out all-out dancey songs with soothing love songs, nothing on here will ruin his reputation. Back to those love songs, they’re surprisingly the best moments on the record. ‘Learning Lines’ is a downbeat track with a positive outlook, words “Picture frame, books and shelves, not afraid by myself, metal strings, glowing tubes, Bessie Smith, sings the blues” outline his love of music and his determination to get somewhere. And closer, ‘When We Die’ certainly has the potential to bring a fresh tear to a teenage girl’s eye. The album follows another pop convention by ending on a attemptable, beautiful note, but by God it works.

‘Matinee’ is only a good album, nothing more, but it has the ability to change non-fans into loyal fans that screech at Jack’s every word. And here’s a fact; you cannot say you hate Jack Penate without listening to this album. He won’t lose fans, he’ll win them, so well done indeed.