Album Review :
Jake Germany - Leftover EP
By Eric Pettersson in Reviews | Comments closed
Artist: Jake Germany
Album: Leftover EP
Label: None (released independently)
Release Date: January 11, 2011
Reviewer: Eric Pettersson
Tracklisting
- Welcome
- The Rest Is History
- Secrets
- You Were Never Right
- Prodigal Father
With soft acoustic strums and lush vocals, singer-songwriter Jake Germany brings a relaxing, introspective, and sensitive EP that is giving me a calm and positive beginning to a new year. His sound is similar to that of classic IVM favorites, David Tamaoka and Coolfield. Between the intro and four songs, “Secrets” stands out as the best track on this release, with emotionally-trembling vocals and an electric bridge that culminates the darker backdrop to the song. A slight country flair appears in subtle ways here and there, as do nods to emo and sing-a-long pop-rock. While the style is pretty mellow, the songs often deal with difficult subject matter, like broken relationships and growing up without a father. At times the vocals remind me of Lovedrug or Manchester Orchestra, only in the context of a softer musical style.
Overall: When it comes to artists I haven’t heard before, I usually like starting with an EP, because for new bands, less songs means less filler and more of their selective best. Not only is an EP more likely to be good, it’s also shorter, allowing me to make a faster decision as to whether or not I like the artist. However, in the case of Jake Germany, I wish I had a few more songs to really evaluate for this review. It’s good stuff with lyrical depth, but with only four songs to analyze, I’m left thinking more about Jake’s strong future potential than his current success.