Johnny Foreigner
Waited Up ‘til it Was Light
Nettwerk
A quick surface listen to Johnny Foreigner will cause many to dismiss this as one more UK band that, like Bloc Party or Editors, is riding out the wave of the new indie rock that sounds an awful lot like what we used to call post punk in the ’80s. While those accusations would not be far off the mark, to dismiss this co-ed trio so easily would be a mistake, because buried within the all-too-familiar voices and rhythms are a load of highly listenable songs. One of these, “Salt, Pepa and Spinderella,” has already been recognized and remixed by (ironically) Bloc Party.
Where this band differs from its peers is in its heavily Americanized sound. With their quirky arrangements and dual male/female vocals, they would not have been out of place sharing record bin space with the likes of Archers of Loaf, Pavement, That Dog, or Sonic Youth. The fuzz, the distortion, the angular approach to song structure – all of those elements that made alternative rock so great during the ’90s – are in there, along with high volume vocals that, rather than get lost inside the noise, sit high atop it.
Johnny Foreigner: http://www.myspace.com/johnnyforeigner
