Jude
No One is Really Beautiful
Maverick
Jude delivers on the promise of his early releases with this new longplayer. Astonishing in form, his strong style of playing electric guitar, singing, and songwriting proves quite effective here. From the soft folk-blues mix in “You Mamma You,” he goes directly to a funky Farfisa-organ-like ’60s style pop song in “Charlie Says.” This dude has a lot of range. A ’90s lost love pop sensibility takes over by the third track, “I’m Sorry Now.” “You know that I’m inclined, To ease your mind / Anytime,” sings Jude, then resigns himself to the fact that it’s “too late.”
The top track here proves to be “Rick James.” The lyrics expose the funk king’s private life as much as any tabloid newspaper story. “Then, you got some pretty girls to go down on their knees,” sings Jude, “You took yourself some pictures and you showed them to your friends… Oh, Rick James was the original Super Freak…” Jude manages to ride a wave of halfhearted semi-hopefulness above the wave of his caustic humor. On “Maybe A Few,” he remarks, “Maybe, finally fuck it and just take a shot.” He’s touring now, and it would be wise to catch his show.
