Jack Penate - Matinee

May be the perfect tonic for some, but even then, surely only in small measures.

Album Review by Darren Carle | 07 Nov 2007
Album title: Matinee
Artist: Jack Penate
Label: XL Recordings
Adorning everything from daytime radio to the NME, south London's latest shining star needs no introduction. What he may well need, judging by Matinee's unbridled, hands-aloft love for life, is a mild sedative. Such a sunny disposition is initially fine on the likes of Spit at Stars or Torn on the Platform; elsewhere it becomes somewhat irritating - Run for Your Life is, apparently, about a mugging Jack was victim to. However, if you ignore the lyrics, and you probably should, you'd be forgiven for thinking it details a day where Jack gets laid, has a summer stroll in the park and finds twenty quid in an old coat pocket. As the dark nights descend, this may be the perfect tonic for some, but even then, surely only in small measures. There's only so much saccharine one can stomach before the gag-reflex kicks in, and right now many of us have had our fill of chirpy cockney pop. [Darren Carle]
Released on 8 Oct via XL. http://www.myspace.com/jackpenate