Punches Of Love

Paul Griffiths on Country legend Jim White and Jenny Owen Youngs at The Point, Cardiff

October 11th, 2007

A session of stripped down country with raw unadulterated southern magic and wisdom. The raw Mississippi sewage spills through the shutters down to the barrels at the point.

A young sweet southern dagger Jenny Owen Youngs casually strolls her hypnotic gaze through the eyes of decaying beer stands. She belts her foul mouthed poetry in an enjoyable pop prose akin to Ari Up subdued with a Russian opera. Her leg flows to the beats whilst her guitar strings echo tales of an older cat. The themes of lost loves and drinking starlets show the misery of adolescence whilst her delivery creaks through the graves of hillbilly ghosts.

The preacher, sinner and ultimate carrousel of human anarchy and emotion drift onto the stage. His band members include an English professor and a gentle giant balancing a pineapple dripping in dogma. Their collective spirit is finely orchestrated by their traveling electronic Japanese box of beats. “Sponsored by everyone who downloaded my album for free” rang the cheeky tones of Jim White. Mr White’s persona lies in a mythical cave; a caveman’s painting that documents crimes and passion through an outsider’s soul.

His show etches songs through out his past including his latest contribution ‘Transnormal Skiperoo’. Life observations, whether they be religious, comedic or plane lunatic are all part of the White experience. His songs are told in Technicolor splendor with prose and punches of love, life and tragedy. The performance is delivered with honest emotional endeavors of life, through a hypnotic dream-like space. A drifting vocal hovers through the songs such as ‘Still Waters’ that provides a poignant backdrop to his sweet charcoal gruff. Surely a majestic soundtrack to life’s drifters all through the world.

Songs from his first two albums flow through the set, passionate and subtle. ‘Wrong eyed Jesus’ has cemented his heart and soul within the nomads and orange-squash-drinking rebels of the land. Whilst his wise tales of life deliver a more comprehendible world than the Point’s original purpose.

© 2007 Paul Griffiths

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