Jim From The Moon - I Am Going to Steal You - EP Review!
★★★
Wow, it's been a long time since I reviewed an album! Sorry about that, been a busy, busy, busy student! Curse you, revision! Anyhow, I manage to find at least a little bit of time for my blog, and this week, I am reviewing the 2011 EP from folk rock artist 'Jim from the Moon'. Having learnt guitar from the age of 11 and forming various bands including 'Antennae', the new EP 'I Am Going to Steal You' is a pleasant acoustic EP from this Irish inspired singer. When I initially listened to this EP, I found it was a simple mash-up between edgy vocals and peacefully pleasurable melodies. The vocals vaguely range from the style of 'Panic! At The Disco' frontman Brendan Urie to Pär Wiksten of 'The Wannadies' (Known for their most popular song 'You and Me', 'It's always you and me, always, and forever').
Wow, it's been a long time since I reviewed an album! Sorry about that, been a busy, busy, busy student! Curse you, revision! Anyhow, I manage to find at least a little bit of time for my blog, and this week, I am reviewing the 2011 EP from folk rock artist 'Jim from the Moon'. Having learnt guitar from the age of 11 and forming various bands including 'Antennae', the new EP 'I Am Going to Steal You' is a pleasant acoustic EP from this Irish inspired singer. When I initially listened to this EP, I found it was a simple mash-up between edgy vocals and peacefully pleasurable melodies. The vocals vaguely range from the style of 'Panic! At The Disco' frontman Brendan Urie to Pär Wiksten of 'The Wannadies' (Known for their most popular song 'You and Me', 'It's always you and me, always, and forever').There's no doubt that this EP is good, however, there were some kinks that I found when listening it a few times. I found that the music was well refined, yet it sounded quite generic. The album offers nothing new or exciting to music. If you think about it, there are a billion other acoustic artists struggling to make it. You need to offer something unique and outstanding to make you stand out from the crowd - what makes your sound different?
There were good riffs, but the hooks failed to be memorable. Perhaps if the hooks were repeated more then it would stay more in the listener's mind and become more catchy. This could be achieved by just making the songs a lot longer. However, I did like how not all of the songs sound completely the same which is a problem for many a musician. For example, the track 'Thanksgiving Day' offers fast-paced melodies and vocals which makes for an interesting song. Yet, I find that the songs lack potential. They need that kick to make them something extraordinary. I would like to see a harmonious beginning with a almost demonic-like ending to a song for once - like the styles of Damien Rice (Irish-born folk rock singer). It seems like 'Jim from the Moon' tries to be an artist similar to Rice but perhaps is struggling to do so. Have a listen to the tracks from the different artists and check out the similarities below. I would definitely suggest experimenting with different themes and sounds to get a broader feel for different genres of music.
Another thing, I found the lyrics fell weak at times. You get poetic lyrics like 'My days are filled, busy finding God or busy rotting away', but the consistency is ruined when you contrast them with such blunt words like 'But I still said some dumb shit to you': It just ruins the poetic flow and seems out of place.
I did find that some songs were similar to other artists, but then again I always do! The last track on the EP entitled Esqueleton, I found that the intro was ridiculously similar to Coldplay's Sparks from their debut album, Parachutes. Check out another resemblance below!
Overall, I would give this EP a 3/5 stars! I believe that with those problems sorted, Jim from the Moon would be a great musician with a lot more success coming his way! It is a good EP, but I believe this EP has the potential to become something much bigger.
Have a listen to Jim from the Moon's music here, and then check out the similarities to the other songs below.