Another Form of Relief

Three facts about Johnny Foreigner:

1. Their recorded songs sound like they were recorded from the inside of a steel dustbin.
2. There are no good pictures of them anywhere on the internet.
3. Despite points 1 & 2, they rock sufficiently well enough for me to write about them.

The difficult part for me is convincing you that they rock because of the aforementioned dustbin thing. I know that they rock personally because their live show is something wonderous. I saw them when I went to see Beeches, with them playing second of four bands, and they played one hell of a set. Driven songs that were full of energy, with a vocal that made them sound not a million miles from Los Campesinos!. At one point, lead singer Alexei even asked the audience why they were there and not watching Los Campesinos! who were playing round the corner. I’m not sure what telling you that part achieves. Maybe that Johnny Foreigner are down with the kids. Although they are the kids themselves. This paragraph is going to implode in on itself in a minute.

A couple of days later, I looked the band up on Myspace. At first I wasn’t sure that I’d found the same band. It looked like the same three people, but the songs on their player sounded pretty abysmal, even the single, ‘Sometimes, In The Bullring’. Despite the sound though, I kept going back to the page and listening to the songs. It was probably the live show that did it, as I doubt I would have returned to them based solely on the recordings. There was something about them though. Despite the recording quality, the songs were catchy and full of the bursts of energy that made seeing them live so enjoyable.

With access to some production values instead of a four-track in a living room, these songs would be stunning. Hopefully they will get to record more songs this year, fully unleashing the potential of what they could be. Both sides of their 7″ single can be found below. If that isn’t enough to convince you, I implore you to see them live. To make it all the offer all the more appealing, they will be supporting both Los Campesinos! and Sky Larkin in both Nottingham and their hometown of Birmingham in March.

MP3 Johnny Foreigner - Sometimes, In The Bullring (expired)
MP3 Johnny Foreigner - Camp Kelly Calm (expired)

Johnny Foreigner: Website || Myspace

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Speaking of Los Campesinos!, you are now able to listen to both sides of their upcoming double a-side single on the bands Myspace page. I’m kind of torn over them myself, sparking what may just be the world’s fastest backlash (their first single isn’t even out yet!). Both songs sound overproduced to me, too much distortion and effects, not enough vocal at the forefront. This may change though. Yesterday I didn’t like both of the songs, now it’s only the new version of ‘We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives’ that annoys me. I’m actually liking ‘Don’t Make Me Do The Math(s)’, even if it takes a little getting used to. Thoughts?