Jake Bugg is back on the scene, and the much-hyped British indie guitar-rock bloke has returned with the lead single from his upcoming sophomore album, Shangri La, due out in November on Mercury Records. “What Doesn’t Kill You” is a speedy power-pop punch clocking in at just more than two minutes.
And unfortunately, it’s really just an underwhelming tribute to the Arctic Monkeys.
In the black and white video for “What Doesn’t Kill You,” posted above, Bugg is clearly mimicking Arctics front man Alex Turner. From his leather jacket to his Stratocaster, Bugg seems to have abandoned the Britpop-style that attracted Anglophiles to him in the first place. The bones are there, but the execution is poor. It seems like some label reps in suits gave Bugg a copy of the Arctics’ latest release AM and asked him to imitate it. A Turner-style greaser hairdo seems like the inevitable next step.
We’ve got love for mini-mod Bugg here at Vanyaland, but this single is disingenuous.
And we thought it was a bit rushed. So we slowed it down by 39% in an effort to find the perfect pace. It’s still got a bit of Arctics to it, but it’s much more digestible.
Check out our re-edit of “What Doesn’t Kill You” via our soundcloud.