I’ve said I love Shoegaze a lot on here, and here’s the latest artist seemingly tailor-made to appeal to a demographic of me.
Incidentally, this is one of my favourite things- the moment you hear something, or see something, which you know will appeal directly to someone you know and love, and you want to share it with them. The last time that happened, it was when I saw ‘Mega-Shark versus Giant Octopus’ and knew it was designed for my old housemate to love.
Anyway, I digress. So this is Wild Nothing, a one-man band from Virginia. The 21 year-old Jack Tatum has heard the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, and every other Shoegaze band ever, and my god he loves them. He probably sleeps under a Pains of Being Pure at Heart duvet, and kisses his Liz Frazer doll goodnight when he goes to sleep at night. If I was a guessing man, I’d say he has an older sibling with a hell of a record collection.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticising the man. I’m simply noting he’s treading a fairly well-worn path.
This isn’t wildly original music, but it is very good. His vocals are drenched in layers of echo, and his guitars do that shimmering, gliding thing that Kevin Shields invented and used to such great effect. It’s pretty cool, and shows great promise- Tatum is, after all, just twenty-one, and likely to develop, perhaps take his influences in a new direction. At the moment he sounds a bit like Je Suis Animal.
There’ll probably be more attention paid to his cover- a fairly straight version of Kate Bush’s ‘Cloudbusting.’ His voice isn’t as good as Kate Bush, but then again, whose is? As it is, it’s fairly good. it’s nice to hear that song, and he does it well.
I prefer ‘Drifter,’ a brilliantly crafted piece of echoing guitar jangle which is the most Cocteau-ish of the songs on his myspace. It sounds blissfull, effortless, and it makes me feel nostalgic and excited at once.
‘Live In Dreams’ is also pretty cool- it’s a vaguely Smiths-y jangle with pretty flutes keeping the ambience properly shoegazey.
If I have a problem with this at all, I find myself wanting something a little different from Tatum, something that speaks more of the future. I think that’ll come with time. He’s one to watch, and in five years, maybe he’ll have done something remarkable.
