Not quite cutting it in the arena of current singer-songwriters... What would Jon Bon Jovi say?
The Independent on Sunday said of Teddy Thompson: "[he] is that most welcome of things: a songwriter with stuff to say, and a fresh way of saying it." But arguably it could be said that he is that least welcome of things: a songwriter with nothing to say, and no new way of saying it.
That may not be completely fair... From 'I Should Get Up' at least it's deducible that Teddy Thompson doesn't have a lot to say, he calls himself a 'miserable fool' that 'doesn't want to go to school', not a good rhyme at the best of times, and in a song about not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings it turns you off with a cold pro to the temples.
The B-side however, is a much better effort. 'Bon Jovi Said' is a nice lilting tune to get your brain floating as if it were on a cloud, again lyrically it isn't the best of the best, but paraphrasing the glam-rock god is a valiant effort by any songwriter... In all though; in an age rife with some extraordinarily good songwriters Teddy Thompson fails to really impress and is left in the pile populated by the likes of Jack Johnson et al.