Wednesday 25 June 2008

#18: Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up 'Til It Was Light (2008)

  1. Lea Room
  2. Our Bipolar Friends
  3. Eyes Wide Terrified
  4. Cranes And Cranes And Cranes And Cranes
  5. The End And Everything After
  6. Hennings Favourite
  7. Salt, Peppa And Spinderella
  8. Yes! You Talk Too Fast
  9. DJs Get Doubts
  10. Sometimes, In The Bullring
  11. Yr All Just Jealous
  12. Absolute Balance
  13. The Hidden Song At The End Of The Record
Well, I had intended to cover this at the time of it's release right at the beginning of the month, but obviously laptop death got in the way. With the initiative well and truly lost, I suppose I should just get on with it...
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Occasionally, a record comes along that leaps out at you with its sheer brilliance. In my eyes, Birmingham three-piece Johnny Foreigner have made such a record with Waited Up 'Til It Was Light. It's evident from the very opening track, 'Lea Room': After a brief casiotone intro, a crunch of guitar and Alexei's whirlwind vocal hit you full in the face, to be matched perfectly by Kelly's dulcet tones, equally as comfortable with soothing harmonies or riotous screams. She even takes on a fragile solo at the beginning of 'Our Bipolar Friends', before the song crashes into life with a squall of guitar and frenzied drumming as Alexei's rapid-fire vocal joins in. Meanwhile, 'Eyes Wide Terrified' sees the band bring out a massively anthemic chorus: "Your life is a song, your life is a song, your life is a song, but not this one," they chant: It's simple, emotive and effective.

The record comes complete with a healthy dose of hometown resentment: 'Cranes And Cranes And Cranes And Cranes' sees Alexei sneering "Why'd you wanna live here if there's nothing but housing?", while 'The End And Everything After' sees the band "dazed by the money, trapped by community." The most poignant sentiment comes on 'Yr All Just Jealous' , its wonderfully harmonised outro seeing friends and acquaintances realise their ambitions of getting the hell out of there, leaving the band as "Three ghosts in Birmingham." The band also demonstrate some scathing wit at times: "There were no female pirates: Your friends are dressed like whores," goes the bluntly hilarious opening line of 'Yes! You Talk Too Fast'.

'Hennings Favourite' starts with a soaring guitar line that leads into a tale of garage-rock zombies, before eventually fading neatly into the drum-machine intro of 'Salt, Peppa And Spinderella', a tender tale of post-night worry that not only contains a fantastic spoken-word section, it also features one of the most grin-inducing moments in any song I've heard this year: "Bring out the real fun: Turn on the real drums," says Alexei near the end of the song, cueing an instant transition from Casio-powered beats to rapid-fire 'acoustic' drum riffs, as the guitars break out into a primal thrash before spiralling upwards to the song's climax.

'DJs Get Doubts' is a break from the relentless pace, and proves that the band can do slow and affecting too - it's a wonderfully fragile ballad, with Kelly forlornly singing "There's no such thing as a free night out, guestlists cost and DJs get doubts," before combining with Alexei for the lump-in throat chorus: "These little white lies drag you through the colder nights." The bashful declarations of 'Sometimes, In The Bullring' also tug at the heartstrings, with Alexei declaring to his loved one "I will wait for you outside car parks, outside busy shopping centres, I will wait for you at work when all your early shifts run late."

'Absolute Balance' sees the band throw in everything but the kitchen sink in: Twinkling piano and skyscraping guitars, pounding drums and casio-beats, with Alexei's howled vocals straining to be heard over the maelstrom. It provides an epic sense of closure as the album's final track... or so it would seem. Much like their contemporaries Los Campesinos!, they've pulled of the trick of having two 'final' songs on their album, the very last track being the unlisted and appropriately named 'The Hidden Song At The End Of The Record'. As an epilogue for the album, it serves its purpose perfectly, combining everything that's good about the rest of the band's output with a joyously chaotic double speed ending.

Overall, Waited Up 'Til It Was Light is a relentless thrill from beginning to end, a record that grabs you by the head and heart and pulls you into the band's world. It's full of great moments, Kelly's guttural scream of "I might be drunk but at least I'm standing up!" on 'Sometimes, In The Bullring' and Alexei's touching intro on 'Eyes Wide Terrified' being just a couple that I haven't already mentioned. In my mind, this is currently battling it out with the debut from Los Campesinos! for the title of 'favourite record of the year so far'. Both records demonstrate both lyrical and musical brilliance, but Johnny Foreigner somehow manage to do it with less than half the members. In short, this is a band to believe in and a record to fall in love with: Go buy it, now.

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Hi, I'm not dead.

Well, that wasn't supposed to be a month-long haitus, but such is life. Laptop is fixed now, so expect some new reviews... soon?