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| Poor Sean Lennon. He's always been the Emilio Estevez to his half-brother's Charlie Sheen. Younger, more interesting but never really achieving his sibling's success... Hey, who wrote that? Julian was a crapper, and Charlie's been in freefall since Hot Shots: Part Deux. Let's start again... |
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Poor Sean Lennon. He'll always be what he is: a cross between John and Yoko. Nothing he can do will ever erase that. In the 90s he came close, hanging in slacker-hop circles and acting all cool. But in the eight years since his debut, we've heard nothing. Then Friendly Fire arrives on our laps and it's hard to get excited.
It's hard partly because he sounds so much like a man who stopped making records decades ago. Our ears - particularly here in the UK - are so primed to hear Lennon Senior that Junior's voice just sounds wierd, like supermarket cola compared to The Real Thing. It's too thin, spread too far.
That said, he's capable of strong tunes. The lilting 'Wait For Me's hushed melody recalls the Beatles' 'Girl', and the gentle tumble of 'Parachute's chorus hook, bolstered by sweet female harmonies, calls to mind Elliot Smith's bittersweet melodies but with a character all of its own. It's the album's only real standout and Lennon struggles to repeat the formula.
Even on the weaker songs Lennon displays an ear for melody but it's always clear that he's the son of Imagine John, not Beatles John. And there's a better carbon copy of Imagine John out there: the Sleepy Jackson's Luke Steele. Sean Lennon's in a strange and unenviable place, born into permanent creative stalemate. He's wedged between his father's legacy and his own burgeoning talent, sounding like too much like him and yet not enough. He could still make it, but with songs like these it isn't going to happen any time soon. |
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| Mat Croft - 5/10 |
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