But But But The Poncho

Johnny Boy, "Fifteen Minutes" - Johnny Boy's recently-surfaced self-titled album opens with their last single "You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve", which I think is probably the least promising way they could have gone. That's not to say it's bad, of course - far, far, far, far, far from it - but, uh, there's a reason why Pulp didn't open Different Class with "Common People, in case we all forgot. Breaking a single always seemed like kind of a Faustian arrangement to me (which is probably at least partially why I like singles so much more than albums); on the one hand, you can get people's attention really quickly if you come up with something perfect, which Johnny Boy undoubtedly accomplished with "Generation", but on the other hand, you're going to have to live and die by the standards you set out in it for the rest of your careers, and it's not a guaranteed thing that you've got any control over what those standards are. "Generation", for instance, might lead you to expect crazy revivalist Wall Of Sound fireworxxx from Johnny Boy, something of the kind of magnitude that'll allow you to let the Raveonettes and Louis XIV and all those other JAMC-jacking bands slip on into yr past (er, unless you've taken care of that already) - in other words, it'll lead you to a conclusion that the album, and I'm being brutally honest here, couldn't possibly support.

I have to believe that these are the kinds of considerations they were taking while putting together, because the rest of the album's almost consciously Not Revelatory almost exactly like how "Generation" was. That's not to say that the massive production values aren't cranked just as high on the album; Johnny Boy's best songs have the kind of tangibly cavernous space more familiar to Lee "Scratch" Perry productions, only all that space gets filled up with all kinds of insane little touches (as anyone who downloads "Fifteen Minutes" will no doubt soon discover - seriously, god bless whoever's responsible for all those drum fills and soaring synths). But just because all the songs on Johnny Boy sound as busy as "Generation" doesn't mean that they have the same pleasures to offer up - quite the opposite, in fact, since it jumps around between styles so much that you'd be forgiven for wondering if the Avalanches went and learned how to play quote real instruments unquote. Hell, I'd go so far as to call it Chemistry for the indie set; the uniform excellence of the production almost makes the album feel like it's saying something, although in practice the only thing it says with indisputable clarity is "HEY CAN YOU KEEP UP WITH ALL THIS CRAZY-ASS POP MUSIC OK BYE", and the best measure of its greatness is the fact that it can actually say all that while (figuratively) leaning out of a passenger-side window roaring by at a hundred miles an hour. Of course, all of that's coming from my head; god only knows the books I'd be writing about Johnny Boy if I hadn't already made myself intimately familiar with its most perfect moment.

But that's defeatist thinking; I'd much rather bitch about how an album doesn't live up to the majestic heights of its lead-in single than bitch about how if I have to wait one more day for the band that made a single that hits majestic heights to come out with an album any day of the week. And again, to repeat, Johnny Boy is one hell of a good time and a pretty damn good album to boot (it does seem like one of those albums that could only seem great at the beginning of the year, although I still really like that Boy Least Likely To album from last year and that's practically the alpha and omega of that particular kind of record). I'd say it's worth checking out even if you're already inured to "Generation" (if that's possible) - none of the songs may be that good, but they're all a threat to catch you THAT kind of off guard. (Click here to buy Johnny Boy from Megastore.se)

Be Your Own Pet, "Damn Damn Leash" - Of course, if you DO want to hear a single that may well set the bar too high for anything later, then you might giving Be Your Own Pet one minute and fifty-two seconds of your time. I mean, "Damn Damn Leash" is quite a fine little song, but good lord - Justin Hawkins practically had to wink thirty years off his life and only got one side's worth of this kind of volcanic American rock; this song effortlessly gets at least that much before your ramen's done cooking (although given that they're from Nashville, they may have had something of an edge). And then of course all that rocking is just a delivery device for ALL THAT HOWLING in the chorus. Seriously, if anyone ever needed to tour with the Long Blondes... (Click here to buy the "Damn Damn Leash" single directly from label Infinity Cat's online store)