More often than not, rekindling the past results in little more than an exercise in artifice, something superficially the same, but lacking soul, detail or context. Plenty of bands want to be the Ramones, Depeche Mode or Oasis. Plenty of bands are also cheap facsimiles. Tobias Jesso Jr. isn’t. ‘Goon’, his debut, is a wholly improbable success story.
The songs here are surprising and fresh, but also familiar, warm and lived-in. Perhaps that has something to do with fewer 20-somethings waking up and deciding they’d quite like to retrace Randy Newman or James Taylor’s steps. It’s easier, after all, to buy a leather jacket and learn three chords than it is to channel a bleeding heart into a piano-pop song.
There is an unfussy quality to Jesso Jr's writing, a sense of honesty born from the fact that this journey began at the bottom. The first notes that led to ‘Goon’ arriving on shelves were played by someone who viewed themselves as a failure, someone whose mother was battling cancer and who had been spat out by LA.
His songs are melodically rich without being showy, while his lyrics have no truck with complex structures or heavy-handed imagery. If 'Goon' was a conversation, it’d be a quiet one-on-one: straight up and without obfuscation.
It’s testament to his sense of purpose that the early help of JR White and input from Pat Carney, Jonathan Rado, John Collins and ArielRechtshaid hasn’t radically altered his music. ‘Goon’ doesn’t have the surface hiss and rough edges of the demos that emerged a while back, but it does have the same heart.
Hollywood is a miserable traipse through his time in California - attempting to write for other artists - that becomes universal through its delivery. Never lived that particular nightmare? No matter, because you’ve been in his shoes at some stage. “I don’t know if I can fake it, if they tell me I’m no good,” he sings. “I think I’m going to fry in Hollywood.”
Similarly, his tales of heartbreak and unrequited love are honest and deeply personal, but they contain details that fit like jigsaw pieces: “I find out you’ve gone and met a new man, and told him he’s the love of your life. How could you, babe?”
At a time when pop’s fallback plan is to out-glisten and overpower, Jesso Jr’s slightly wonky, understated songs are very welcome. ‘Goon’ will win you over. Just give it a chance.
Tobias Jesso Jr Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed May 06 2015 - LONDON Courtyard Theatre, London
Thu May 07 2015 - LONDON Courtyard Theatre, London
Fri May 08 2015 - MANCHESTER Night and Day
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