Jim Noir has long been on my radar dating back to December of 2006 when he played Spaceland. I also caught his show at the Viper Room with Neon Neon after his well received SXSW showcase. Jim Noir recently released his sophomore self-titled album on April 8th on Barsuk records. It is by far the grooviest album of 2008.
Elements of:
Teenage Fanclub, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Super Furry Animals,
Chemical components:
Korg MicroKorg, Gigantic vocal harmonies, Mellotron and Gibson Hollowbody guitars
Lab Report:
Jim Noir (aka Alan Roberts) is one crafty songwriter. Alan's songwriting skills continue to grow as his latest album could easily be heard blasting from the 8-track of Scooby-Doo's Mystery Machine. I remember never being able to clear my head from those insanely catchy Scooby-Doo tunes as Scooby and Shaggy are chased by a random villains. "Same Place Holiday" is one of those catchy chase tunes with bubbly synthesizers adding buoyancy to the song as funky wah laced guitars dictate the direction of the song. Alan's vocal harmonies are the focal point of the song and help lift the song above the stratosphere. "Good Old Vinyl" has some soothing psychedelic synthesizer action before the song is swept away in soaring vocal harmonies and delicately placed back on the ground with lightly strummed electric guitars. I have a soft spot for vocoder robotic vocals and "All Right" has plenty before Alan comes in again with more sunshine pop. One of the reasons I can attribute to liking Jim Noir so much is that the songwriting reminds me of Teenage Fanclub. "Don't You Worry" is as bright as Sunday morning with Alan patching together deceptively simple chords to make his songs sound fresh and new. Jim Noir is touring all over the United Kingdom but I hope he is able to come across the pond to support this album.
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