last orders are an order

Finally, I've got around to listening to Beerjacket enough, to start to like the music, alot. Borrowing from such well-worn strings as Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and Bright Eyes, Peter Kelly - the young face behind the voice and the guitar - is turning into a brilliant songwriter with brilliant potential. Using a stripped back acoustic offering of sound, he crafts well-written and well-sung melodies, to carry his songs.

No point in citing influences if you don't explain, so... Beerjacket, writes and plays guitar lines which are more complex than your average singer-songwriter fare - no doubt the influence of Elliott Smith - and with enough variety to keep you interested. In addition to this he's got the (seldom-used) falsetto, and the faltering voice of Jeff Buckley and his lyrics are often reminiscent of Bright Eyes in both their sardonic phrasings and their bitter delivery.

Offering up such sound-alikes as these would put an awful lot of pressure on a young singer-songwriter, but he's nearly good enough to get away with it. Maybe not quite there, but he will be soon, no doubt. I would recommend heading over to Archive.org in order to find a live show of his, since these illustrate that his talent is a natural one, and his charm is subtle but ever-present.

If you're a literary person, or just a drinker, then listen to the lyrics of 'Last Orders', since they're insightful, and the vocal delivery makes them seem even more profound. A song about alcoholism and an ode to resignation - it has to be done, it might be fun, you'll wake up hating yourself in the morning. I'm sure others have felt that.



Beerjacket

Barricade
These Planes Won't Fly
Bad Got Worse
Last Order (live)


This live concert is good. This one; here, silly. It's the one where he opens for Rilo Kiley, and gets nervous but never really falters.

You can download the rest of his second album, 'Great Unhappiness', here. I only offered up my favourites from it, which I believe highlight his potential the best.

Sorry for slow posting, I've been recovering from Friday and then just recovering, and then trying to revise. I'm going to try that some more now.