Producer, remixer all round sound-man Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee is becoming a name to remember. When it comes to producing, his CV of late is formidable. Albums with Snow Patrol, Kasabian, Bloc Party and U2 have rightly earned him a grammy. Hell, he’s even rumoured to be working with REM and Bob Dylan on their forthcoming albums. But oh dear, here’s a solo album. And it's not the first time he’s unleashed his own work onto the unsuspecting public, but by his own claims, is the best he’s done yet.
Taking a listen to this, his fourth outing, it’s hard to see what he means. His high-energy songs mix rock and dance. Distorted guitars, pulsating bass lines and beats. In the right hands (and his hands are capable enough) this could be good. But the actual songs themselves are hugely disappointing. Repetitive and fairly uninspired, the writing is weak. The focus for Lee is clearly not melody, which isn’t a problem if you have strong lyrics, or concentrate on making it a true dance album. Lee falls between the boundaries and has come up with a weak hybrid of the two styles.
The slower songs, such as ‘I Cut Your Hair’ and ‘Run Me Over’ are equally dull, and just break up the monotony of some of the other tracks. One track - ‘Bands’ - is not bad, and could possibly have you singing along, but then this is followed by the poorest offering ‘What’. What indeed. By the end of the album you really just can’t be bothered to hear what he has to say.
His voice sometimes sounds that of a second rate folk singer, and only sounds like it has real emotion when he sings “I really like it ‘cos its making me moneyâ€. I bet you do, Lee…
Not really a dance album to get your party going, and proof that producers, especially decent ones like Jacknife Lee clearly is, should stick to the day job.
