London loon travels his own Streets on a brilliant debut.

Jamie T - Panic Prevention

[4/5]

Similarities be damned, could this please be the last time Jamie T and the Streets are compared in the very first sentence of a review? Yes, Jamie Treays and Mike Skinner are both young Brits fond of pricking the world with their razor-sharp pens. But hip-hop is only a fragment of Jamie T's DIY grenade, and the messy hybrid of punk, rap and reggae on Panic Prevention makes Skinner's grime gleam. No one sounds like they give a shite less about being a star than the 22-year-old Jamie T, nor sounds more like a star, regardless.

But the more pertinent reference points date from a different era. The skeletal rockabilly of "Brand New Bass Guitar" and the primitive skank of "If You Got The Money" are only the most obvious Clash connections. More importantly, like Joe Strummer, Jamie T understands something crucial: With no more than pub sing-along melodies, a Cockney yelp and a sense of the absurd, a guy could conquer the world. Jamie T is young, talented and off his nut enough that he just might do it. (CAROLINE) Dan LeRoy

ROCKS LIKE:
The Clash's London Calling
Billy Bragg's Brewing Up With
The Streets' Original Pirate Material






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