Friday 20 March 2015

Jack

Feel like remembering some of the great orchestral indie pop bands of the mid and late 90s.

I rediscovered Animals That Swim not so long ago, as written about here. Whipping Boy have been a constant favourite. Now I'm recalling the band Jack. I collected a couple of singles/EPs over the years, and certain songs made it onto compilation tapes often. There are various distinctive song titles I recall, and hearing more of their songs on Youtube, I'm easily transported back to my teenage bedroom, half expecting Steve Lamacq to chirp in with a back announcement on the radio...

What a gloriously sophisticated sounding, lyrical, romantic lot Jack produced. There was an otherworldliness to their songs, hearing them as a teen who was yet to start going out... picturing Parisian style cafes of London, suave, bookish people, dimly lit clubs playing debonair songs of the 60s, dramatic romances, that sort of stuff...


Looking back, it's pretty criminal that it was the likes of Rialto that were having hits and primetime TV championing. Passable pop rather than seriously good songwriting... standing up as a 
a bit indie boyband and lightweight in comparison. Ditto with the likes of My Life Story having repeat comeback concerts and reminisces in recent years... I quite liked them, but they were nothing like as soaring, mature, dreamy, literary. Introspection mixed with unaffected grandeur, Jack were one of those perfect indie bands.

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