Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Reinvention is not the preserve of those that seek to change their background story, in the right hands it can also add a sense of glorious insight to how we can all interpret life, how the subtle cues in interaction can take on a new meaning. Whilst some might see it as a sacrilege, a sign of disrespect to the originator of the scene, to those with art filling their veins, it can be an act of devout sincerity, an offering of thanks to the creator that they have been inspired.
Jesse Dayton’s gregarious and genius take on some of the rock classics that have dominated the airwaves over the last fifty years comes at a price. For many the new album Mixtape Volume 1 is an astounding act of wide band commitment, of expressive delivery and unreserved honest love for the music, there will be those who see it as signalling of musical blasphemy, that the intelligence of the man has gone too far; the latter observation being one that bares no need to be uttered. For in the set of songs that inhabit Mixtape Volume 1, what comes across most is the sense of love, time spent hanging on the record/play button in youth and capturing the affection for the one you adore.
It is in the compatibility of Jesse Dayton and his own musical inspiration that makes this album such an enjoyable recording to delve into; the surprise of opening up songs such as Jackson Browne’s Redneck Friend, The Clash’s Bankrobber, Elton John’s Country Comfort, AC/DC’s Whole Lotta Rosie and Bruce Springsteen’s State Trooper is one that dines in the land of revelation. If re-invention is perceived as taking an easy option in terms of art, then the hard work that goes into making these particular songs stand out is a direct declaration of war to the ones who see such idealism as an affront to the skill required.
Jules Verne wrote, “A Man of merit owes himself to the homage of the rest of mankind who recognises his worth”, for Jesse Dayton, the music is not just deference to the past and how it has influenced his own thoughts, it is a respect to the artist himself, and how Mixtape Volume 1 relishes in that tribute.
Ian D. Hall