A Modern Day Distraction (Deluxe)＜Colored Vinyl＞

English singer and songwriter Jake Bugg embraces the twangy, literate, 60s-inspired pop/rock of his best work on 2024s A Modern Day Distraction. Having emerged to critical acclaim in 2012 and garnering early comparisons to artists like Bob Dylan and Billy Bragg with his folk and blues songs, Bugg (who was 18 when he released his eponymous debut) has explored an array of sounds, flirting with Rolling Stones-esque grooves on On My One and AM pop on 2017s Hearts That Strain, while 2021s Saturday Night, Sunday Morning showcased a chart-friendly mainstream alt rock vibe. Produced at Metrophonic studios in London, A Modern Day Distraction is easily his most stylistically cohesive album, an almost perfect balance of all his influences funneled through a vintage-inspired, 60s rock lens. Cuts like "Zombieland," "All Kinds of People," and "Waiting for the World" are big, crunchy tube amp guitar rockers that balance the classic influence of the Beatles and David Bowie with the punk intensity of contemporaries like Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane. Elsewhere, he draws swaggering inspiration from Oasis on "Never Said Goodbye" and evokes the bittersweet piano balladry of Gilbert OSullivan on "All that I Needed Was You." While these are hooky songs, theres also a sense that Bugg has deeper thoughts on his mind -- about social inequities and the crush of capitalism on the average working person, who, as Bugg sings, "works his fingers to the bone/Just to feed the meter/And its so dark when he gets home." With A Modern Day Distraction, Bugg further establishes his reputation as a modern-day British rock troubadour. ~ Matt Collar

ロンドンのメトロフォニック・スタジオにて録音された6枚目のオリジナル・アルバム。近年はさまざまな音楽的要素を取り入れた作品が多かったが、今回は力強いギター。リフと軽快なアコギのストローク、そして走り抜けるようなヴォーカルが味わえる、まさに原点回帰と言っていいストレートなロック作。水を得た魚のようなエネルギッシュなジェイクの姿が感じ取れる痛快な一枚。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二