Jack Penate

In many ways, Jack Pe±ate is Lily Allen minus the sarcasm and the party frocks. The South Londoner's music is slick, radio-ready pop, but its heart is rooted in the Two-Tone ska revival and the more soulful end of '80s pop, along the lines of the Style Council and the Housemartins. Add in Pe±ate's striking vocal resemblance to the young Billy Bragg and he's like the post-millennial equivalent to the U.K. student discos of two decades previously. Jack Fabian Pe±ate was born in Blackheath, a fairly posh London suburb, on September 9, 1984. While still in his teens, Pe±ate formed a band called Jack's Basement, which also featured his schoolmate Felix White, later lead guitarist for neo-Brit-pop act the Maccabees. When that group broke up as its members went off to different universities, Pe±ate began a solo career, backed by bassist Joel Porter and drummer Alex Robins. While developing a strong live following due in large part to his frenetic on-stage dancing, Pe±ate signed with the Young Turks label and released his debut single, "Second, Minute or Hour" (each of the 1,000 limited-edition vinyl copies containing a Polaroid self-portrait of the artist), in the fall of 2006. The single's favorable buzz allowed Pe±ate to jump to the larger indie XL Recordings for 2007's Matinee and 2009's Be the One. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi...

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