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Reviews - Jason Darling - Burn Magazine

Hmm. Lazy guitars for a Sunday afternoon. Catchy, memorable sing along lyrics dripping over a unique kind of larynx with a little Blind Melon and Lennon thrown in for good measure. Where is Rolling Stone? Where are the UK's leading rock journalists while Jason Darling is busy being one of the greatest songwriters to grace this new era? To be quite frank, I couldn't give a damn where they are....

I'm here and I'm listening. This is the way it should be. Maybe the Lennon/Melon reference was uncalled for a little in the wrong direction. With a little motion in the direction, you're looking at another Shawn Mullins phenomena here. Years of toil broken wide open by a great song given airplay. If that song is on this album, so be it. If not, it'll be on the next.. or the next.. and record deal or not, Darling will be doing this forever. It's a soul thing. He drawls with a swagger that belies his confidence and whilst wearing your heart on your sleeve sucks when your vulnerable, it's pretty damn cool when you're using it as a weapon, and that's where we find Jason standing.

The lament of "Nickel" is groovy enough to take the man to the dizzy heights of MTV and whilst "Hip Hop Hooray" would make a great follow up, you could take your pick of radio friendly smashes from the remainder. In fact, a year in the UK would do the man no harm. With Coldplay and Toploader doing just fine, the climate is just fine over here, plus I think we'd get a chance to see one of the future greats. Time will tell. Put your money where my mouth is.

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