NME: April 9, 1994
JEFF BUCKLEY
Live At Sin-é (Big Cat/CD/LP)
TALENTS SPORTING the imprint of famous genetic forbears inspire suspicion and derision in equal measure; look no further than Julian Lennon's career for elucidation. Jeff's dad-the exuberant, libido-crazed, free-form funkateer and jazz stylist Tim Buckley-was a unique force; his death, few have approached his highwire daring and adventure.
Now comes the son he hardly knew, holding court in a boho New York singer-songwriter showcase cafe, bearing an astonishing physical and aural resemblance to his father.
Elongated acoustic workouts, coaxed into being by vocal moans, cries, curves and yowling volleys. Big swooping diversions counterpointed with angelic gasps and gleeful tail-kissing departures-it's all a little uncanny, unsettling; eyebrows are raised, questions asked. This four-track EP-counted as an album, due to its length-is a bet-hedging work-in-progress introduction to the Buckley Jr groove thing. Though bristling with dynamic interplay between voice and guitar, it veers to the histrionic, making prospects for his future career seem both tantalizing and daunting.
On "Eternal Life", his high-flying conceits narrow and harden into a simplistic new aquarian worldview, cheating the performance of the emotion it aims for. "Mojo Pin" raids the Led Zeppelin ballad blues style to good effect, but his ten-minute scat rework of Van's "Young Lovers Do" is a pointless and ponderous exercise in grandstanding.
Buckley is certainly a talent of his own making; Edith Piaf's "Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin" is both focused and totally disarming. "Live At Sin-e" captures Buckley still shaping his identity, hopefully the promise it displays will come to fruition on his forthcoming (real) album. (6)
Gavin Martin
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