EP REVIEW: Jordan Dean ‘Local’

With the world, or pretty much most of it, confined to quarters for most of the past year, the title of Cleveland indie artist Jordan Dean’s new EP is bang on the zeitgeist money. The title track kicks off the five tracker and it’s a corker, one of those tracks that’s so catchy that you’re convinced you’ve heard it before even though you haven’t.

His press bumph declares him to be more in love with British artists like Jamie T, The Kooks, and Arctic Monkeys than Stateside bands. That may be true but Dean makes no attempt to hide American accent when he sings and a good thing that is too, because he is blessed with a voice that’s seductive and silky yet still full of character.

The faster cards in the pack are probably our favourites, with ‘Drunk’ endearingly recalcitrant and tinged with rockabilly rebellion. But the slower and more sensitive moments like the Vampire Weekend-esque ‘What I’m Feeling’ and closing track ‘Friend’ proving a nice counterpart to the exuberance elsewhere. It might be a while still, but let’s hope he gets to cross the pond and entertain us over here in the UK sometime.
Ben Willmott