Jun 03 2008 11:27 am,
4.5
Johnny Foreigner
‘Waited Up ’Til It Was Light’
(Best Before Records)
When The Fly interviewed Los Campesinos! in
Cardiff, we were sitting in the pub when, like, Johnny Foreigner suddenly strolled past the window. At this point, Gareth Campesinos hopped outside to say tally-ho and The Fly was left pondering whether this ridiculous coincidence was, like, a bit of a Batman stunt or something. See, these two bands sound remarkably similar, and The Fly, up to that point, had never seen the two in the same place together. Hmm. Having said that, there was never gonna be a bland Bruce Wayne to the other’s shit-kicking Dark Knight – these two both absolutely thwack and thwock unworthy arse all over the shop. Holy indie bands, Batman! How much of a good thing can one have? Bring it on, Robin. Bring it fucking on.
Of course, in no way are we suggesting these two are identical – they merely share a similar razor-sharp, explosive boy-girl vocal chemistry. In fact, Johnny Foreigner’s dynamic is much more duet-like, with Alexei and Kelly striking a more measured counterbalance than Los Campesinos!, whose female lead, though feisty, doesn’t match up to Kelly’s note-perfect delivery. Best exemplified on the album’s solitary ballad, the beautiful ‘DJs Get Doubts’, the pair’s vocals intertwine with poetic synchronicity on the subjects of booze, lies and Christmas crackers. It’s basically Johnny Foreigner’s own ‘Fairytale Of New York’, minus the male lead vomiting the vocals. Throughout this album, near-perfect balances are struck left, right and centre: ‘Hennings Favourite’ is a psychedelic swordfight between two guitars; ‘Salt, Pepper and Spindarella’, with its “Are you hungry now?” refrain, puts us on a balanced diet of sparse stripped-back bass before delving into a sumptuous banquet of guitar gastronomics. Tongue-in-cheekiness abounds on ‘Yr All Just Jealous’, its “three ghosts from
Birmingham” reference quite possibly a specially-aimed middle finger. Saving their best (and worst) trick for last, the epic splendour of ‘Absolute Balance’ serves as the perfect album closer. That they have tagged on a song called – get this – ‘Hidden Song At The End Of The Record’ (a great track in itself) seems misplaced here. It isn’t even ‘hidden’ – just a few seconds after what The Fly considered to be the perfect ending. Then again, that was probably their point – highlighting the superfluous hidden track by inserting, like, a superfluous hidden track. We wouldn’t put it past them – Johnny Foreigner’s debut barely puts a foot wrong. And when they DO put one wrong – well, they probably meant it in the first place. Clever bastards.
Stephen Brolan
« Back
