Johnny Foreigner: Grace and the Bigger Picture
Johnny Foreigner: Grace and the Bigger Picture
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 28, Oct 2009 01:28
Best Before Records, released October 26th.
In a nutshell...
Brummie noisemakers modernise their garage
What's it all about?
Grace and the Bigger Picture is Johnny Foreigner's second album, written largely over the course of the past year while on the road. It's about parties, pain and being skint.
Who's it by?
Johnny Foreigner are a boy-girl-boy troupe, that share vocals, riffs and rhythms as often as they can. On record, you'd think there were five of them.
As an example...
"Let this burn itself out/We'll all stay warm somehow." - Security To The Promenade'
"Trading heartbreak for sentiment, like paying the rent." - Graces
"So London might as well be Glasgow/Might as well be Tokyo, or any place, we're almost leaving." - More Heart, Less Tongue
What the others say
"It's fast, sugary and adrenalised, a relentless rollercoaster of jostling melodies, math-pop guitars and yelping vocals... While it's a tad disappointing there isn't anything here that will challenge their audience or send them skyrocketing into the mainstream, it'll do just fine until next time." - Tom Edwards, NME
"What we have is a constant; unlike their debut record, which was a bundle of punchy peaks and troughs. The raucous bursts perfectly counteract the measured, intentional breaks, leaving us with a group closer to completing their own jigsaw." - Luke Slater, BBC
So is it any good?
Producers fall into two categories. Either they go for the Martin Hannet model of marching a band (Joy Division) into the studio and saying "you might play live like a punk band, but on record you guys are going to sound like dub, gottit?" or they try to capture the band "in their element". Johnny Foreigner got the second breed of knob-twiddler, as producer Alex Newport has previously worked on records by renowned DIY bands At The Drive-In and Rival Schools.
Newport takes the band's sound and haphazardly blends everything together. Sometimes this works - on lead single Criminals the vocals, guitars, drums and bass all work in a loutish chorus, making you stare at your speakers, tilt your head, but find your feet tapping along.
But there are other times when the messiness engulfs the music, making it seems thin and tawdry. Instead of being made powerful and resolute by its haphazard build, it instead turns to a neglected garden shed, replete with leaky ceilings and dampened floor. Not something you want to spend time with, or show other people.
But maybe that's the charm, right? This is music to listen to on your own, bottle of white cider in hand, as you put on your wristbands and your Converse before stepping out for a big night.
Be warned though: slam this on at a house party and immediately people will scream at you. They'll say the bass is mixed too low, the drums lack the insistent whumpa whumpa of a great rhythm section, and the vocals are so sketchy they might as well be coming from the residents of your houseparty, rather than the speakers themselves.
7/10
Jack Clark