While I wasn’t overly taken with former Chelsea, Gen X, and Gene Loves Jezebel guitarist James Stevenson’s album – it felt a little disappointing given his pedigree, the number of acts he’s performed with being genuinely astonishing.
Featuring Glen Matlock on bass, ‘Suzi’s Problem’ is a narrative-led song that finds James in rock mode. It has a certain ‘classic’ vibe about it, coupled with a post-punk undercurrent. It’s pretty cool, and illustrates why age and wisdom can yield the kind of crafted songs younger artists simply can’t create. Detached from the context of the album, it works well.
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Flipside ‘Why Am I Still waiting’ is a downtempo smoocher with a white soul smoothness worthy of the Blow Monkeys, complete with epic sax break. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s especially good, and does, in fact, sound a shade dated.
Still, on balance, it provides a fair pitch of what James Stevenson’s solo work’s about, before he heads back of on tour as second guitarist for The Cult....
James Stevenson Online
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