Jamie T. Preview

Jamie T.
Schubas, Chicago
Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Like the characters in Gary Oldman’s gritty 1997 directorial debut, Nil By Mouth, the subjects populating Jamie T.’s (Treays) inaugural full-length, Panic Prevention (Caroline), just want to get fucking wasted.

The 21-year-old southwest Londoner, who looks a bit like the kid from Billy Elliot, has caused quite a stir on the other side of the pond with his Art Brut sing-speak style and Pulp-like obsession with class distinction. His rapid-fire rhyme schemes call to mind that other England export, The Streets, and with only an acoustic bass to keep him company, Jamie T. cross-pollinates punk, reggae, and old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. The end result is a cockney skewed, testosterone-filled romp through an average day in the life of a U.K. youth who grew up on a diet of late-’90s hip-hop.

Leave it to NME to once again lay on the hyperbole by naming the youngin’ Best Solo Artist at the magazine’s annual awards bash. Beating out Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, the aforementioned Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, and newcomer Lily Allen seems slightly preposterous, but out with the old and in with the new, eh? The smiling, erratic Myspace blogger also guests on “Rawhide,” a bonus track on Prevention, no doubt the result of the pair’s burgeoning popularity in the States.

Prevention lays the DIY ethic on thick. Coughing, conversations, and random assaults with curse words float in and out between songs, giving the whole affair a recorded-at-home vibe. Don’t be fooled. Jamie T. may only be recently of drinking age over here, but the kid knows an indelible hook when he sees one.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly