Album Review: Matty Carlock – The Jailbirds

There are two ways to approach this piece of work. The first is to hear it and, unless you’re from Matty Carlock‘s corner of the New Jersey suburbs, that is inevitably your initial way in. And what will you hear? You’ll hear an album of sublimely eclectic songs that will defy any attempt to be constrained by genre. And this, perhaps, is Carlock‘s trademark. He has worked across many musical styles and that is reflected in the broad scope of this album. One minute it’s balls-out, slap in the face melodic pop punk (openers 17  and The Punks That Had Enough, which features The Scandals’ Jared Hart), the next it’s breezy urban Americana (Jeralyn, with a vocal contribution by New Jersey photographer/director Danny Clinch) and then sublime sax-led bittersweet soul (Goodnight For Good) that Van Morrison would be proud to have penned. And so on. This album has it all.

The second way in is to listen. There is a confessional quality to these songs that make this an intimate and, at times, deeply affecting document of times past and of lives and loves won and lost. Carlock is by his own admission deeply steeped in the Springsteen methodology and it’s to his credit that it’s out there in the open. This album is a storybook of Carlock‘s youth but in its honesty and openness, it’s a youth that any listener can superimpose their own highs and lows onto.

The core of this album is a run of three impeccable songs: the wistful folky Summer Rain, Carlock‘s keynote hardcore manifesto Young And Fucked Up (which features Jesse Malin), and the driving Teenage Runaway. These songs encapsulate the breadth of his musical vision. But every song on this album is not far short of perfect in their own way.

Carlock is a colossally talented songwriter who does not shy away from exposing the deepest and darkest corners of his soul. Simultaneously evocative of a lost past and virtually timeless, the album is full of sentiment without being maudlin. And even if his experience is not yours, he’s relatable and affecting without being suffocating. Music from the streets for films not yet written. Just beautiful.

The Jailbirds is out now on all digital providers including Spotify and iTunes

Matty Carlock can be found on Facebook here