Jackie Leven –

• 9th May 2009

This double album starts with ‘greetings from milford’ and is a live album with the Stornoway Girls. I peeled back my ears and gave the live one the first port of call. Playing a combination of his own and some of his favourite tracks it’s a stripped down to the bare bones affair mellow affair from the off. Even the Velvet’s ‘waiting for my man’ fails to lift the melancholy haze and Jackie’s vocals don’t come across as being serious at all. It’s a blues tinged live album that really lacks in gumption. Its got a distinct appeal to the older generation and it’s got appeal if you find the handsome family too much of a challenge.

‘Man bleeds in Glasgow’ is a live album recorded with the celtic soulmen. Jackie starts his intro in high spirits by saying ‘welcome you bastards, good to see you again’. ‘Farm Boy’ is scattered with acoustic guitar and Jackie’s vocals are far more alive than ‘milford’. Lets not he forget he is not straying away from familiar ground here but he is more on his money and has far more intent with ‘Glasgow’. ‘Guardian review’ is Leven’s attack on fancy words in journalism and he is intent on developing such a rapport with the crowd that they would never attempt to stray from his side. It’s almost stand up, no hang on….

The album stop starts and at times is bordering on plain stupid‘ erotic football results’ tells us how Jackie’s missus likes to have lower league football results to her in bed. Ahem – thanks Jackie, do we really need to know this? And for me it’s at this stage where the album fails to take itself serious. There is no doubt that there are some tracks that have guile and verve but what he needs is an injection of Band Of Horses’ approach if he wants to take it to the next level and grab a new army of followers