Hey kids, do you like Jet? The Hives? The White Stripes? Neither do I, and here’s a band that sounds just like them: Jonny Lives! This band has just completed its UK tour and is coming to the United States to play shows in Brooklyn. Now I’m not going to completely bash Jonny Lives! They aren’t horrible, but they are riding on the coattails of bands we already know and hate. This band is following a path that has already been paved for them; they are not pioneers.
So what can we say that’s good about Johnny Lives!? Not much, I’d say, unless you’re still into the UK 1960s revival music. If you want to hear music that sounds like British rock from the ’60s, you might as well listen to the real thing. One of the best bands from that era is The Who. What I’m trying to say is, don’t waste your time being bombarded by the armadas of conformist bands like Franz Ferdinand.
Would a band like Jonny Lives! exist if there were not bands like White Stripes? Probably not. And this is not the only thing I could complain about this band. It’s not simply a matter of copying a genre, but also there aren’t really any catchy melodies in their music. “What’s a catchy melody?” you might ask. Well here’s an explanation. Do you ever find yourself whistling a part of a song? If you don’t, then the song probably doesn’t have a catchy melody. If you do, then it is a catchy song. And I can almost guarantee you that the song is based on that melody.
I was handed an EP of Jonny Lives! consisting of five songs. It had a couple of acoustic numbers that were attempting to emulate Jet or The Beatles. In my opinion, this band is merely trying to copy the sound of other bands without really adding any originality to it. In their music it feels like they’re saying, “Yes, we can sound like other bands.” That is the height of their talent.
Maybe it’s just a question of an individual’s musical taste. I’m not saying it’s lights out for Jonny Lives! But maybe now that they have an established band, they can create a sound that is catchy and original.
After creating their trademark sound, then they can make original music that people can find themselves whistling to.
But if they don’t, Jonny Lives! may arrive in the U.S. to find that the musical path they chose to follow stops at a party that was pooped on long ago.