Jeremy Scott’s solo debut is a “Reigning Sound”.
Member of Reigning Sound and Toy Trucks, Jeremy Scott has delivered a solo debut that is more than the sum of its influences. The Memphis native has joined up with multi-instrumentalist Graham Burks, Jr. (Perfect Vessels, Pezz, Loose Opinions) in the latter’s home studio to record this eclectic mix of folk, shoegaze, and garage rock. Scott’s membership of Toy Trucks and Reigning Sound can be heard throughout the album. The cheeky whimsical lyrics remain, and the sixties sound is still there, but he adds unique vocal stylings which pay homage to J Mascis and other grunge slacker rockers. Song titles like ‘Turgid’ and ‘Ass Pimple of Love’ show that Scott is enthusiastic and values a sense of fun. This continues within the lyrics of those songs and also ‘Patron of the Arts’. The latest single ‘Fred Neil Armstrong’ is accessible but by no means representative of the eclectic quality of the album. The 90s meets 60s in songs ‘Your Ice Cream’s Gonna Melt One Day’ and ‘Just Like Your Mother #15 and 67’.
Jeremy Scott clearly loves to make music and pleasingly has his fingers on guitars in many bands. His solo work brings his voice to the front, unlike his role in other bands, and for this reason, his debut stands apart. Americana is often pretty, but it’s also often gritty, and this album skirts the line between the two.
The album starts quietly and with country intentions, the songs ‘Turn my Way’, ‘World Brain’ and single ‘Fred Neil Armstrong’ lulling the listener into a false sense of safe 90s alternative country-rock. This illusion is shattered by ‘Just Like Your Mother #15 and 67’ with guitars, echos and fuzz pedals galore. By the middle of the album, Scott is screaming into the mic, “What am I talking about?” and spouting self-deprecating gritty lyrics all to a heady combination of upbeat jangling and heavy epic guitar noise. It is impressive to sing a chorus that is solely the word “Turgid”, which sums up the courage of fun heard in this record.
On Scott’s Twitter, it states, “Like a three dollar shirt to a ten dollar body, I keep hangin’ on.”. If he keeps making records like this, Americana UK hopes he does.
