Jake Bugg (Self-Titled Album)
Overall Rating — 9/10
Jake Bugg is a British singer-songwriter from Clifton, Nottingham. I am presenting you with an album review to his debut self-titled album, released in 2012. Releasing this indie folk/rock/folk rock album at the youthful age of 18, I observe a maturely written album. With some old age inspiration shown throughout with the likes of Donovan, the Beatles and some blues artists such as Robert Johnson and Skip James. Struggles of leaving a town that feels he is being held back by, heartbreak songs and self-finding songs, Bugg has it all in this album that reached Number 1 in the UK’s Albums Official Charts Company.
1. Lightning Bolt
Kicking off with a fast paced, three chord catchy chord progression, instantaneously this song has my attention. It produces an inspiriting beat with the kick drum. Way back 11 years ago, my dad introduced me to Jake Bugg, and this was the first tune of his that I’d heard. Appearing to be a song about taking chances as they come to him to try escape from the miserable people in his gloomy town. I also perceive it having a deeper meaning “as the angels parted for her” suggesting death. This song made an appearance on a Gatorade advert, which would have increased Jake’s fans in America. “They say you gotta toe the line, they want the water not the wine, but when I see the signs, I jump on that lightning bolt”, must be the finest line in this song.
2. Two Fingers
Opening with muted strums, this then advances to muted picking in the first verse. “I drink to remember, I smoke to forget”, indicate the harmful habits Jake has already grasped at a young age. Jake acknowledges his childhood and growing up in this song. Whilst he is smoking a cigarette, it’s a chance to feel at peace in his world, and momentarily forgets his troubles. Linking back to Lighting Bolt, Bugg refers to this “I got out, I got out” suggesting he managed to take the opportunity to get out of his town. My favourite line in this is “I’m an old dog but I learned some new tricks, yeah”.
3. Taste It
Returning to a catchy fast riff, Jake is displaying his life getting better and that things are looking up for him, which is shown in the line I love most in this song, “Fill my head with the future, fill my eyes with the sky”. Bittersweet goodbyes are displayed as he recognises it’s hard to say goodbye to his best friends, he has made over the years growing up here, but the taste (no pun intended) of what’s to come numbs this pain. Previously, the two songs before this were about the town holding him back, ‘Taste It’ adds another plot in the story within this album as we see him escaping this town.
4. Seen It All
A crescendo introduction heightens the drama in this song, with a song lead by the bass and drums. Bugg claims to have ‘Seen It All’ in this one, as he describes his night out at a party. “Gangsters crew” foreshadows what will happen in this song, as a violent atmosphere is rising, Jake witnesses a murder by stabbing. To have seen this at the age Jake was when he wrote this song, this must have really shaken him. The reference to this death can be seen in this line “I’ve seen the light, but not the kind I would have liked”.
5. Simple As This
When asked what my favourite song is on this album, I don’t find it hard to answer that question, it’s quite a simple answer really, it’s as ‘Simple As This’. It’s a song about Jake trying to find who he is by exploring internally and externally. It’s a tune met with a soothing guitar chord progression and plays into a theme (that stops at this song) with every other song being uplifting. I understood that Jake went looking for answers in life through alcohol and drugs, but this only worsened him in the long run. After the first chorus, the song goes another level of being uplifting, with a drumbeat and harmonica adding another element to this song. After all the searching the writer has completed, he realises that it was right in front of him this whole time, his girlfriend. This now makes it the first song about love on the album. Thanks to making an appearance in the movie ‘A Fault in Our Stars’, this song gained more popularity. A line that’s well-liked is “Tried liberation of my own free will, but it left me looking to get higher still”.
6. Country Song
A short song with just Jake and his acoustic guitar, and on the contrary to track five, we have a sad love song. Bugg is desperate to see his former lover again and is pleading for her to come back. My favourite line in this tune is “Gunna sing you an old country song, from the strings of this old rusty guitar”.
7. Broken
Persisting with another blue song, we have a downbeat emotional guitar picking sound. I view this song as a one about death, hinted in the line “run to the lobby where I saw you try, don’t give a damn for your reasons why”. If you were listening to this song three times through and your eyes didn’t water once, then you’re either thick skinned or heartless! “Still my heart beats for you” suggests the writer is wanting to live on for this person to make them proud.
8. Trouble Town
‘Trouble Town’ again refers to being stuck in the town he’s from. “Speed bump city” metaphorically represents the town slowing him down or stopping him from leaving. I also detected that the song sounds like it’s on an old recording tape, this could maybe represent his old self looking back on how hard it is to escape a town. “If I talk of getting out, I only hear the laughter loud” is my most favoured line in this song as it suggests the people are making a mockery of him for thinking he has any chance of escaping; in hindsight we know he does.
9. Ballad of Mr. Jones
Making an appearance from the beginning is the acoustic guitar, bass and drums creating a chilling dark dramatic build up. This song is about three men who killed Mr. Jones’ wife, but they don’t go down for it and run freely. So Mr. Jones attacks them whilst they’re in a “drunken haze” and he now gets punished for this. This song is the only political song (if it can even be classed as political) on the album, as it explores the poor justice system. “Some will kill, and some will steal the last breath that you breathe, from you” is my favourite line on this track.
10. Slide
Lyrically speaking, this could be Jake’s finest number on the album. Powerful similes such as “like a flower in the snow” suggests he is alone and can’t grow in his surroundings. This song portrays the acceptance of losing his lover in a painful way. “The way the world turns, and my stomach churns” are natural things that happen and sees this breakup as something that needs to happen. A strong metaphor of “cause you and me, on this frozen sea, we slide” meaning they’re uncontrollably sliding apart from each other. This makes it my favourite line of the track.
11.Someone Told Me
Another breakup song to feature on the album, with another catchy picking guitar riff. This breakup track is about the realisation that things in relationships aren’t fair. “Said I’m sorry, but I’m not to blame” backs up this point. As the riff goes on throughout the song, it shows how his thoughts are just running on a cycle throughout his head. The line that pleases me the most in this track is “Am I crazy or am I blind? Someone told me I’m out my mind”.
12.Note To Self
On a pit stop from the breakup songs, we have a track that is filled with advice to a girl. Ironically, there is a violin featured in this tune. In verse three, the drums are added to the instrumental, showing how things are advancing. I hold onto the opinion that “Girl, let me tell you what I see, you’ve got to believe me, you’re a thing of beauty” is a wonderful line in this track.
13.Someplace
You guessed it, another breakup song. This one hints onto his partner being unfaithful and leaving him for another man. This is shown in my favourite line “And yes you just run to him, and I’ll be down on my knees begging you, begging you don’t I love you”. Instrumentally, this song presents a simple bassline, as heard in chorus one. As we progress to chorus two, the drums can be heard, making the song dramatic and the emotion can be felt when Bugg belts out the previous line. I also admire “it goes like the clouds; it floats like the sky” as a lyric. It symbolises that the writer and the person this song is presented to have floated away from each other.
14.Fire
A short old fashioned bluesy sounding song wraps this album up. Trying to create this sound, Bugg recorded this on his iPhone, and this created a crackling sound like an old recording tape. The best line on this track is “For this darkest night won’t ever let her be”.
Completing my first album review, I have learnt a lot from delving into each song on the album. Although I have been listening to these tracks for over a decade, I was only 10/11 when I use to sing along to these lyrics, not knowing what they meant. To conclude, I believe this album to be about Jake Bugg getting a new lease of life as he writes about the things he wants to leave behind. It mentions about wanting to move on, from both the town, the people and some relationships he has found himself in. An album which speaks about a rough upbringing, as written about in ‘Seen It All’. I’ve already made the point that ‘Simple As This’ is my favourite track, I’d have to say my least favourite is track number fourteen. Overall, I would rate this album a 9/10. I feel like nostalgia plays a part in this for me, as it has been an album I’ve loved growing up, but I think it’s strong lyrically. To me, I pay the most attention to the lyrics when I listen to songs. I like to make my own interpretation on what I perceive a song to be about. This brings me onto my final point, throughout this review I have demonstrated my own opinions and by no means am I saying that my views on the songs are correct, only the writer knows what they’re about. With that being said, it’s always interesting to see what other people think songs are about so feel free to message me your thoughts and let me know which is your favourite song.
