Sean Jackson -‘Slots’ (Poppydisc)

Sean Jackson was the frontman of 18 Wheeler, who seemed to be sadly destined to be perceived as also-rans in 1990s’ indie pop. They were headlining the night their support band Oasis got signed at King Tut’s in 1993; they were introduced by Tony Blair (unfortunately as ‘Wheeler 18)’ and that breakthrough hit always eluded them. (I always thought it was going to come with a song called ‘Crabs’ sadly, it didn’t). They were big in Japan and Sean Jackson has been described by Alan McGee as the most underrated songwriter of his generation.

Post-split and a spell teaching in Russia, Sean is back with his first album in thirteen years. The results are a mixed bag. Whilst overall this gets the thumbs up, the problem is that while it’s a nice, pleasant album, there’s very little here that isn’t being done elsewhere. Opener ‘I Wanna Fuk (It Up)’ is loud and good, and ‘Song For The Dead’ is Teenage-Fanclub like in a good way. The final track ‘Run, Hans Holbein, Run’ sounds like latter-day Cast, and that’s never been a good thing.

Sean Jackson will be supporting Teenage Fanclub later on this year, and Norman Blake has been covering Sean jackson’s songs in his solo sets, apparently. It’s a pleasant enough album – but I’m not sure if it’s strong enough to win over people who aren’t fans already.

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Slots is out now on Poppydisc

Sean Jackson -‘Song For The Dead.’ mp3