There's no point beating about the particularly thorny bush that is rock criticism. Since this CD arrived through my door I have been clinically unable to listen to anything else for more than 30 seconds at a time. And if any of the other so-called New Acoustic mob can produce a better debut album than this in 2001, I'll not only eat my hat, I'll eat theirs' too.
Not that it's fair to even class January with the retro crooners of Starsailor, Turin Brakes et al. Songwriter Simon McLean has remembered that there's nothing like a truly epic tune to prop up the most melancholy of lyrics. And more importantly, why settle for an acoustic guitar when there's a myriad of emotions to be conveyed with a jack to jack lead, a couple of pedals and a good old-fashioned amplifier plonked behind you?
When signing a then unknown January, Poptones boss Alan McGee went to great lengths to tell all and sundry how Sarah Peacock was the best guitarist in Britain. Hyperbole or not, the guitar playing on 'I Heard Myself in You' is never less than stupendous. Peacock's effortless slide guitar and country-style picking on the title track and 'Invisible Lines' perch perfectly next to the explosive distortion pedal workouts of 'All Time' and 'Sequence Start'.
'All Time' is a masterpiece of an opening track, reminiscent of Noel Gallagher fronting Mazzy Star. Building from two simple chords on an acoustic guitar, it climbs to a crescendo that's probably making Jason Pierce take a close look at his forthcoming album. It's that good.
The album's centrepiece, however, is the truly inspiring 'Falling In'. Sounding like it could have been written at any time in the last thirty years yet instantly timeless, 'Falling In' puts January so far ahead of the pack it makes Manchester United's runaway Premiership lead seem positively anaemic.
The standard has been set for British guitar music in 2001. Whether anyone picks up the challenge is another question entirely.
