THE JACQUES – Pretty DJ
aaamusic | On 12, Jan 2015
Bristol-based The Jacques had a busy 2014. After forming in January, the band of brothers have since signed to 25 Hour Convenience Store, played a string of festivals, and released their debut EP Pretty DJ. Ranging in age from 16 to 21, The Jacques are indie boys with the potential to make good.
As singer Fin Jacque growls like a lion cub over sharp instrumentals, it is easy to see why the Jacques occupied a support slot at this year’s Libertines’ reunion. If The Libertines were the UK’s snarling response to The Strokes, then the Jacques are Doherty and Barat’s snotty younger brothers. The opening bars of ‘Foreign Films’ bear a striking resemblance to the Libertines’ ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’, whilst ‘Scum in a Bottle’ would not sound out of place on their debut album Up the Bracket.
However, there are wider influences at work here. The jangling guitars and jaunty vocals of closing track ‘Weekends’ sound remarkably like Elvis Costello by way of The Jam. Lyrically, the EP follows the Britpop tradition of finding beauty in the commonplace. Lines like “I know you’re not a flicker of my sort /when you sit there in your socks with your t-shirt falling off your shoulder” make the title track in particular stand out. These are love songs with a sixth-form twist.
The Jacques seem to know that their age will accompany their name in the press and have made it work to their advantage. ‘Foreign Films’ addresses the sense of limbo that accompanies the teenage years, with the chorus professing “if we were kids I’d share my lunchbox with you…if we were older I’d take you to Luxembourg”. This feeling of being caught in-between two states underscores the youthful exuberance on the EP and lends it an emotional weight that could otherwise be lacking.
The Jacques have a promising launching pad in Pretty DJ. Whilst the EP is not what you would call innovative, the band has drawn on respectable influences, a smart move for a first release. The musicianship showcased here leaves little doubt that The Jacques are a band worth watching.
