At first I suspect JIM NOIR of writing quirky songs for the sake of quirkiness but after repeated plays it finally dawns on me that I’ve not seen the wood for the trees and that his only crime is making addictive (shh, don’t say it too loud) Pop Music. Do you remember Pop Music? It’s that melodic thing stuffed with tunes that used to be in the charts years ago before they became clogged up with prefabricated cover versions, tiresome posturing R ‘n’ B and bits scraped off the shoe of yet another happy clappy crappy DJ.
Luckily JIM NOIR is on hand to fight the good fight and remind us all of what it was about popular music that got us excited in the first place. Each of the four tracks on his second EP is resplendent in colour and joy, that’s right, colour and joy. Quickly scanning my CD purchases from the last couple of years I realise that there is little in there that contains these two magical and elusive elements. There’s aggression, experimentation, originality and mega-wattages of raw energy but little of those precious and elusive things that put a smile on your face in a way that is refreshingly free of irony and guarantees a sustained burst of pure happiness.
The frightening aspect of this immaculate quartet is that they sound as if Jim could knock out these types of songs all day long and in no time at all. It’s the irrepressible air of carefree abandon that creates this impression, like Jim is only doing what comes naturally and – hey! – Dear Listener if it floats your boat too, then that’s just fine and dandy.
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Brian Wilson is a big influence and his presence also attracts the sensibilities of The Super Furry Animals, the artfulness of Belle and Sebastian and the playfulness of Lemon Jelly’s first three EPs. I know what you’re thinking, not another Brian Wilson sound-a-like. No, Jim is nothing like that. What he’s done is extract the essence of Brian rather than mimic or copy him. As I said before it’s too natural in emotion and evocation to be damned by such misplaced accusations.
The euphoria that Jim’s music creates means that I’m not going to analyse these songs individually. I’m in too good a place to risk losing their positive effects by breaking things down into manageable chunks for easy reference. Suffice to say that – in running order – ‘Computer Song’, ‘Turn Your Frown Into A Smile’, ‘My Patch’ and ‘How To Be So Real’ are paeans to everything that is great about Pop Music and their unquestionable and priceless value to body and soul can only be realised through direct contact.
Go on, bring some colour and joy into your life: you deserve it and JIM NOIR can supply it.
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