Cover Feature Johnny Foreigner - Johnny Foreigner vs Everything

Having changed record labels and finding themselves faced with a substantially reduced recording budget, logic might dictate that ‘Johnny Foreigner vs Everything’ would be both short and bittersweet. But fortunately for all concerned, in the Brummie trio’s third offering we’ve got seventeen tracks that prove JoFo either didn’t get that particular memo, or if they did, they choose disregard it completely.

Because whilst there might be less cash to flash than during the recording of their previous two long players, that certainly doesn’t mean Johnny Foreigner have decided that they’re going to start skimping on anything. Why, even their song titles are still gloriously long-winded (‘if i’m the most famous boy you’ve fucked, then honey, yr in trouble’, ‘Hulk Hoegaarden, Gin Kinsella, David Duvodkany, Etc’). And while they’ve certainly picked up where they left off after 2009’s ‘Grace & The Bigger Picture’ with a similar melting pot of influences (Pixies, Pavement, Sonic Youth), there’s enough curve balls here to ensure that any accusations of being too derivative are carefully dodged.

So, what gems have JoFo hidden within these seventeen masterpieces for our aural pleasure? It’s difficult not to use the word ‘ballad’ (because ballads are shit, right?) when describing ‘Johnny Foreigner Vs You’, ostensibly it is, but that doesn’t really do it justice. Piano led, surprisingly tinged with Elbow, it’s heartwarmingly gorgeous. Although, it does seem like every time that bassist Kelly Southern opens her mouth something beautiful falls out, perhaps never more keenly felt than on ‘Concret1’, where over a backing track of swirling, almost Four Tet-esque traffic noises, she deliciously describes that sensation when music transports you back to an alternate time and place.

It’s ‘200x’ that truely sparkles though, with Junior Elvis Washington Laidley’s definite drumming defying the hazy duet being uttered by Kelly and frontman Alexei Berrow. Elsewhere, ‘(Don’t) Show Us Yr Fangs’ exemplifies Johnny Foreigner’s perfection of the boy/girl harmony, their voices beautifully entwining.

Perhaps Jonny Foreigner vs Everything’s only real flaw is that it’s a little too long, and it’s difficult to just dip in and out of, but it’s impossible to say where sacrifices could’ve been made. Because truthfully, if this is a the sound of a band angry at the world, then let’s hope for all our sakes that no idiot comes along and advises them to cheer the fuck up.