Jake Bugg was born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy in 1994...which would make him all of twenty-five years old. At first I thought that I wasn't accomplishing much of note at the age of twenty-five, but then I remembered that I was helping to raise two kids at that age and that helping children develop into functioning adults was a tad more important than making a pop record. Anyhoo...Bugg began recording at the age of 17, released his first LP at 18 (which hit #1 in his native U.K.), and has followed it up with three more albums as well as three EPs. While Bugg hasn't had much commercial success here in the states (two albums hit the top 100 and two singles hit the top 40), he has had quite a bit of success in the U.K. with four top ten albums and 10 of his singles hitting the top 100 on their singles chart. Bugg has been nominated twice for Brit Awards (U.K. equivalent of our Grammys), and at the end of last year signed with a new label in an attempt to relaunch his career. Best of luck!
"Messed Up Kids" was released on Bugg's second album Shangri La in 2013, and was also released on an EP entitled, appropriately enough, Messed Up Kids in 2014. The song was not released as a single here in the U.S. of A., but reached #71 on the U.K. charts. The album was his best selling in America (#46--with a bullet!--on the Billboard 200), and hit #3 in the U.K.
Co-written with fellow FNJ alum Brendan Benson (for his work with the Raconteurs on "Steady as She Goes"), "Messed Up Kids" is a statement song depicting the rather rough waters faced by youth in the increasingly economically fractured U.K. (Political Statement: and where we're headed if things don't change here). Bugg and Benson do a nice job lyrically of not just pointing out society's ills, but also painting a picture that shows them as well. Bugg's vocals are solid--he changes ranges from the stanzas to the chorus and it gives the song a stronger voice. Extra props for the guitars--emaycee loves him some jangly guitars and Bugg jang, jang, jangles away on his. In the end, the song reminds me a lot of the Undertones "Teenage Kicks" (also featured here on Friday Night Jukebox) and that might be all I need to say--it's one hell of a song to be compared to. Here's hoping forty years down the road folks are still singing the praises of "Messed Up Kids" a la "Teenage Kicks."
Lyric Sheet: "And everywhere I see a sea of empty pockets/Beautiful girls with eyes so dark within their sockets/So far away/It's a washed out Saturday...
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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