By Fred Spanner
Jim Bob: Automatic ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Well, it was a tough one this week. Two of the best album releases went head-to-head, and Jim Bob’s Automatic came out on top, narrowly beating Jim Bob’s Stick. Yes, the Carter USM frontman has had the balls to release not just one, but two albums on the same day.
If anyone can look at the absurdities of life and make you feel better about them, it’s surely Jim. The choruses are massive, and Jim’s lyrics, somewhere between stand-up comedy and social commentary, paint portraits of everyday eccentrics: blokes with drones, sad lads on commutes, and women knitting history. It’s conclusive proof that only Jim Bob could make traffic jams sound profound.
From the off, “Victoria Knits the Wars” sounds like a lost Britpop anthem from ’96. “Scream If You Want to Go Slower” builds like a dodgy rollercoaster at a seaside fair, while “Frank Bought a Drone” is equal parts hilarious and depressing (a bit like scrolling Facebook at 3am). “Balloon Release For Arthur” will tear your heart strings, and just when you think he’s done, along comes “Baby On Board” (not the Homer Simpson song). The closer, “Our Forever Home” rounds things off nicely.
Compared to its punkier twin Stick (also well worth checking out), Automatic is the more polished sibling: less lager-in-the-gutter, more arms-around-your-mates singalong. But that’s not bad thing. It’s an album that proves Jim Bob’s still got the knack for writing tunes that’ll lodge in your skull long after the hangover clears.
It’s witty, tuneful, and begging to be blasted in the car with the windows down.