Jennel Garcia – Life Starts Now
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| Jennel Garcia - Life Starts Now |
Release Date: Out Now
In the UK, those that don’t make
it in to the final of the X Factor either tend to join the back of the queue to
audition again for the next season or go on endless tours of coffee shops
desperately trying to get a song on to national radio rotation or used on an
advert. Jennel Garcia, it seems, has had a ‘Disney’s version of punk’ make over
and decided to release and EP which intrigues me because and EP is usually what
artists release when they can’t afford the studio time for an album but have
more than one good song so a single seems like a waste. Shall we explore? Let’s.
The first of the six tracks on this
collection is ‘Don’t Break My Heart Again’ is a poppy, guitar driven piece of
breeziness that would fit straight in to an episode of any one of the teen
shows on Nickleodeon. ‘Hate To Love You’ is equally pumped up and plays the
quiet-loud-quiet-loud card particularly well picking up the baton where Demi Lovato
and Avril Lavigne left off when they decided to go all ‘mature. The riff on ‘The
Only One’ is prime Blink 182 fodder and that takes a confident vocal
performance to carry off which Garcia manages with ease. Switching between
poppy sweetness and emo-punk aggression, Garcia has the kind of voice that, if
she was singing on top of heavier, more distorted guitars in band called
something like Even After All, would see her gracing the pages of Kerrang! on a
regular basis.
EP title track ‘Life Starts Now’ is
easily the standout track here with its Cyndi Lauper 80s power pop vibe and
grrl power spirit just ripe for plenty of pogoing and lip curling at the end of
a coming of age film. On ‘If You Only Knew’ Garcia opts for the piano ballad
approach and it’s a useful tool for showing off another, more tender side of
her voice but the song isn’t particularly strong and sounds like a Christina
Aguilera album filler at best. Now, final track ‘Looks Like You Missed Out’
shows the direction that I think Jennel Garcia should be taking. Aggressive,
assertive and in your face with blistering drums and razor sharp guitars giving
the power needed to match that voice as Garcia veers in to alt-pop-emo
territory with aplomb. Now, ironically this is the only song on this collection
that Garcia had no part in writing so there’s some thinking and soul searching
to do. Does she want to stretch herself and follow in the footsteps of the
likes of Pink with an edgier career or settle for the safer shores of a middle
of the road pop career. I know which way I’d turn.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/JennelGarciaOfficial