There are tons of clips of Jared ripping up a storm with that guitar all over the internet. His problem however is how do you translate that on a record as there are a billion other blues rockin’ wannabe’s laying down the same schtick!?
It’s not just the guitar that’s his secret weapon, he has that rich, bourbon, dipped in honey type of voice that not many people possess. When that all comes together like on the track Easy Come Easy Go you feel as though he has cracked the formula and could give Bonamassa a run for his money. His playing is blistering on this song.
He has that commercial touch to his writing as well with the song Down The Drain, where the vocal and guitar create an earworm that you will be humming for days. It’s the guitar that pulled me into Jared’s records though and there are a whole bunch of wild riffs and leads all over this album. Hard Wired, the spacey Shadow Dancer (which is my favourite), and the Hendrix-inspired Hallelujah will keep the most ardent guitar aficionados drooling.
I’m not sure if he’s trying to go for a lo-fi production or if that’s just the way it turned out. Sometimes it sounds as though the drums were recorded in the next building.
I like Jared a lot and he’s on my list of people I would love to catch live. I would like him to work with a great producer to push him to where he belongs.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
