Album title: Belmont Street
Artist: Jess & Matt
Genre: Pop
Nationality: Australian
Release date: February 10
Position in Discography: Debut
Fear Factor: High
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? A little
Average RYM Score: N/A
Two words strike fear into me more than perhaps even “avant-garde jazz”, and they're “
X Factor”. It's perhaps unfair (though I don't believe so) but anything connected with that show has zero integrity in my mind and gets zero tolerance from me. I can't decide whether the fact that this is an entry to Australia's version of the “talent show” that has plagued us for over a decade now is better or worse than if it were from the original version, but either way I'm not expecting much. Luckily this is only an EP with six tracks, so not too much to get through. Oh yeah: they're boyfriend and girlfriend too: barf factor of 100. Reminds of Kylie and Jason. Please, no! Oh, and it's not even original material! The first track is, the rest are all covers. I only know Crowded House's “Fall At Your Feet”, and if they were going to cover a John Farnham track couldn't they have chosen a better example than “That's Freedom”? There's also a Tame Impala song and one from Flume, all apparently “iconic” Australian hits, though I've only heard of the Crowded House one. Oh well.
Yer wan's a decent singer, give her that much, and he's okay too, but you definitely get the feeling (though I certainly did not see it, nor do I wish to) that they only got through
The X Factor by virtue of their relationship, which no doubt the Australian version of Simon Cowell thought would be seen as “cute” by the voters, and I guess it was, as they made it to the final but came third. I guess it's an okay EP but I don't see the point: this sort of “salute to Australian music”, if you will, comes after you've been more than two years in the business. Seems like an easy way to throw out a record without putting too much effort into it. Bloody Aussies. At least they remind me how much I dislike Tame Impala, so I guess there is that...
Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
Expectation Index: 0