Blue Collar Moxy
Johnny Respect's ad in HM says "50 MILLION FANS CAN'T BE WRONG...unless we're talking Spice Girls, Hanson, LeAnn Rimes, Michael Bolton...okay, so maybe fifty million fans can be wrong, but you don't have to be. Check out the new punkabilly from Detroit's own Johnny Respect." So I check out their album, only to find them sounding exactly like MxPx by track two! I don't know about you, but I kinda frown upon a band claiming some sort of original, authentic status, and then going on to copy the most popular mainstream punk sound (maybe it was the label's fault...yeah, that's it!). Admittedly, the production is rougher here, and some of the bass and drum lines borrow more from rockabilly than punk, but Johnny Respect falls back into Green Day and MxPx mode musically and (especially) vocally too many times to gain much respect from me. They finally kick into their "-billy" mode (think TV's "Happy Days") about two-thirds of the way through the album, with "Rock This Town," "Ritchie," "Anti-Soc," and "One Day." "Rock This Town" and "Anti-Soc" are both cover songs of traditional rockabilly tunes with the lyrics changed (if I'm not mistaken). The last track, "One Day," nearly does a decent job of merging the two styles but ends up sounding like MxPx again. Oh well. The band says in the liner, "If we ripped anyone off, we're sorry, sort of." At least they admit it, sort of. Punk fans (or punkabilly fans) who aren't picky will want to snatch this up...and if that's you, don't miss the delayed track at the end, where they sing:
Smile Sweetly Susan So You Send Satan Sadly Away Buck Up Brother Bill Because A Bunch of Bitter Boys Became A Bunch Better Boys Behind A Big Huge Smile Grin Again Gang Get Gung-Ho About Jesus! By Josh Spencer
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