MJ Hibbet & The Validators tell emo boy to give us a smile
My main regret from Indietracks is that I never got to see the set that MJ Hibbett performed on a train. That was so packed he barely made it on himself. Where people had a singalong (to entirely different songs) in the next carriage. Where he did his cover of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s Boom! Shake The Room. As you can imagine, quite a time must have been had by all.
Which is all the more impressive when you consider that this is a middle aged man on a ukulele. The ukulele gets an unfair deal in modern music, but it can actually be a hell of an instrument when wielded correctly. With Hibbett though, if I’m honest, I was initially put off by seemingly silly songs and a singing voice that just sounded wrong to me. Over the past few months though, I’ve come to really appreciate him. He and his song seem to epitomise the DIY world of indiepop where making enjoyable songs is irrelevant to how musically talented one might be. Not that Hibbett isn’t talented. As a songwriter, he’s a lot of fun, all geeky references and wry humour. Even his voice has a certain charm about it after a while.
wait .. just exactly what does this have to do with “emo”?
It certainly elicited “emotions” for me – such as the emotion of wanting to go and enjoy an ice cold .. *sigh*
So very tired