Joseph Dean Osgood – Rock n' Roll Man

There will always be an audience for the old and familiar – wouldn’t the world be dreadful if everyone chased the witch-house-aqua-crunk-chillwave zeitgeist tip? But from its insipid title to its hackneyed execution, Joseph Dean Osgood’s debut can’t escape a self-channelled rut. His lyrical platitudes on the opening track’s “state of the nation address” are broad and empty; converting Iraq War-anger into tritely simplistic questions like “what are we fighting for?”

He’s considerably better at dishing out narrative vignettes (on Juicy Lucy) or plugging away at genre chestnuts like having a good time (on the self-explanatory Real Good Time's Stones-indebted honky-tonk rerun), and for all his limitations, he has one undeniable ace up his sleeve: a strong, gravelly voice in the Rod Stewart mould. This, plus an ear for a radio-friendly chorus, elevates Osgood higher than the aforementioned clichés might otherwise have permitted – but only just. [Chris Buckle]