Artist: Jonny Lives
Album: Get Steady
Label: Eleven Seven Music
Tracks: 14
Length: 43:52

 

 

 

Jonny Lives! are card carrying members of music’s latest wave of pop oriented rock bands. The band hails from New York City’s Lower East Side and hails life there as the inspiration for their music. While the band fits snuggly alongside artists like Joan Jett, The Killers, Fountains of Wayne, and The Strokes the also manage to blend in a healthy dose of seventies punk inspired rock which manages to set them apart from the pack just enough to make music lovers take notice.

 

Get Steady, their debut album, is a smooth rock and roll ride that reminds of us the rich tradition of early eighties rock and new wave. The first half of the album really plays out in a sort of mundane way. It’s good but it just never manages to sound inspired and really grab a hold of your attention. Around the middle of the album this all changes though. Surprisingly the album picks itself up by the bootstraps and offers something vibrant and amazing throughout its second half. It’s almost as if this were recorded live and the band hit their stride midset.

 

“Lost My Mind” is one of my favorites on this album. It’s has a fifties rock and roll feel to it, you can almost imagine yourself slow dancing with your girl (dressed in a poodle skirt of course!) as she twists your jerry curl. In the background is some tuxedo laden singer gently wailing on the phrase “I finally lost my mind.” The mid-tempo “Everybody’s Trying to Break You Down” is another one of Get Steady’s finest moments. It’s got a great hook that immediately makes you want to sing along but it also comes off very personal sounding and I always love that. “B-Side” is one of the most rock and roll moments. It’s got a tight seventies pop rock sound with just enough edge to fit comfortably alongside today’s’ modern rock giants on the radio. In reality it doesn’t sound much like a B-Side at all.

 

This album starts off slow but once it gets rolling it will not fail to convince you to enjoy it. Despite it’s less than stellar beginning it has some great moments later on that are both fun and different from a lot of their contemporaries.