Jameson - South Shore Girls [EP]

Jameson - South Shore Girls [EP]
2009, Olive Music

Matthew Jameson is a restless soul. He spent a number of years after college running away from home, yo-yoing across the country until he finally landed in Seattle. It is here where his penchant for songwriting took hold, and the years of broken relationships and short-term associations leading back to his parents' divorce began to tell their tales through Jameson in song. Jameson writes honest lyrics and wraps them in Lo-Fi, fuzzy rock arrangements on his first release with Long Island's Olive Records, South Shore Girls [EP].

Jameson opens with the catchy "Superhero"; while Jameson has a solid melody and arrangement set up here, the presentation sounds somewhat sloppy as Jameson layers sound without regard for conformity or fit. "Poetry Girl" is more pop oriented with less fuzz but doesn't have the catchy nature of "Superhero". "Talk Me Down" finds Jameson out of focus, mixing awkwardly constructed lyrics with a bland arrangement. Unfortunately things don't improve much over the EP's final two tracks, "Smoke & Mirrors" and "Going Home".

Matthew Jameson shows a flash of solid songwriting ability on South Shore Girls, but one above average song does not a 5-song EP make. Jameson has long been a competent side-man/band mate, but as a solo songwriter he doesn't offer a lot of interest here, and his voice, while passable, just doesn't translate well as a solo-singer. If you're a hard core Jameson fan you'll disagree with this entirely, but if you're anyone else check out the song "Superhero"; it's Jameson's best foot forward.

Rating: 1 Star (Out of 5)

Learn more about Jameson at www.myspace.com/sonsofjameson.  South Shore Girls is available from Amazon.com as both a CD and Download.