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TRACK: Trading Things In

WHO: Rob Jones from Stourbridge, birthplace of Pop Will Eat Itself, Neds Atomic Dustbin, meaning his one-man band was legally obliged to have a peculiar name too.

WHAT: Light-hearted, big-hearted indie folk.

WE SAY: There’s a very large part of me that’s starting to think that the entire field of science fiction is a warren of s*** and anyone who tries to write about the future is better off giving it a swerve as they’re on a hiding to nothing. What those people have mostly failed to factor in is that humans sometimes find progress a bit overpowering and need to escape into timeless culture for comfort. I recall in the late Eighties the combination of acid house and Stock Aitken & Waterman were making bands with guitars look like they belonged in those medieval banquet joke eateries. But then what happened? Along came The Stone Roses, we took the foot off the futurist pedal a bit (if we overlook the small matter of the advent of drum and bass, the rise of hip-hop and all the sub-genres of techno and house) and 20 years later we can’t move for the acoustically enhanced sods.

A similar thing is happening again. There are those who are shifting even further away from both the ready salted crisps indie blands we’ve become used to, and are going for an even more timeless aesthetic, a charming kind of folky vibe. That’s what I’m getting here with VBS, though other contemporary-sounding tracks on his myspace naus the last paragraph up (yeah cheers for that).

Seeming like he’s aware the last 50 years have happened, but they don’t dominate his thoughts, Rob soothingly troubadours the sacrifices he’d make for his playmate over a gentle lo-fi acoustic set-up, uttering wonderfully kitchen sink one-liners such as ‘like coffee and tea/I need you regularly’, while harmonicas and hanclaps join hands with what sounds like a Stylophone solo to help make possibly the most joyful and merry melody you’ll hear for some time.

Hopefully unlike his namesake, the much-underrated Nineties Liverpool defender, this Rob Jones will get the credit he deserves.

IF YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW ONE THING: The video, directed by James Copeman, is a cracker too. Here, have a look for yourself.

WHERE CAN I GET MY HANDS ON IT: Trading Things In is released on July 21 on The Lowest Layer Of The Trifle Records. Honestly, that’s what it’s called.

FIND MORE: www.myspace.com/thevoluntarybutlerscheme

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