Much of the press heaped upon
Simple Kid around the release of his debut
1 recycled the "
Dylan of the new generation" cliché, and while that comparison has worked well for
Beck, does anyone actually remember other "modern
Dylans" like
Block or
John Oszajca? And truth be told, most of
1 sounds a bit like
Beck, but very little like
Bob Dylan, so wouldn't that make
Simple Kid a third-generation of
Dylan? Either way, it's no matter because the best moments on
1 are actually where
Simple Kid apes a different '60s figure --
Ray Davies -- for thrilling tales of mendacity. It's songs like "The Average Man" and "The Commuter" where
Simple Kid establishes his identity as a guitar-based storyteller; one who leans equally on post-alt rock soundscapes as he does on classic Britpop ranging from
the Kinks to
Blur. He falters when he indulges his sonic experiments, such as in the trippy "Drugs," or "Love's an Enigma, which both sound like third-rate
Super Furry Animals. It's the chunky power pop and twee falsetto in songs like "Staring at the Sun that make
1 feel like a celebration of '90s Britpop, ten years on, only with some modern flourishes sprinkled in. It's true that the shifting styles make
1 something of a rocky listen -- especially when the tempo drags so much in the middle of the album -- but the good bits, the truly adventurous bits, are where
Simple Kid is content to sit still and write about other people who are also sitting still. ~ Jason Damas