May 31, 2007

Johnny Boy

5 / 10 When socially conscious retro pop is your thing (and you’re Welsh), it’s no surprise that James Dean Bradfield produces your first single. What was surprising was that when it was released in ’04 Johnny Boy’s ‘You Are The Generation…’ was the best thing Bradfield had been involved with since ‘The Holy Bible’. Now three years, two record companies and celebrity fans (Mick Jones and Johnny Marr) later, Johnny Boy release their debut. And it never quite matches up to the euphoric heights of that single. Propping up JB’s likeable anti-spend lyrical rhetoric are some skewiff sonics – like The Jesus & Mary Chain remixed by Saint Etienne, it sounds terribly early-’90s. Disappointing.

Priya Elan

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