...REVIEWS !!
johnnies "12 Steps to Nowhere" CD/LP
CAT SCRATCH FEVER #5 : Now I know this has been out for a while, but I ain't reviewed it, and as I dig it a lot I figured it was worthy of your attention. Lotsa great '77 styled action on display here, plenty of tough hooks, all delivered with an underlying sense of humor. Plenty of sneer and swagger too, and a damn fine collection of cool tunes to boot. Drawing influence from the DEAD BOYS and TEENAGE HEAD, you get crunch with melody. Lots of great rock 'n' roll to choose from. From the anti-jock anthem "King Of The Meat", through to the Pistolian "House Of Style". Plenty of guitared-up singalong ditties, just the way we like it. Well recommended.
UP YOURS, Belgium: Haven't got a clue where the hell Untergruppenbach is about but it sure is a region where vinyl is still highly rated. I mean there vinyl and vinyl, and even more there's ALIEN SNATCH -vinyl : motherfucking thick as concrete. The release by ALIEN SNATCH must at least cost 20% more as to the needed amount of vinyl and should be extra charged in shipping as they tend to weigh at least 20% above the average records. What I'm trying to point out here : ALIEN SNATCH Records is a label that digs, loves, carresses, adores and fully goes over a 100% for vinyl. Besides the releases of their own, which I'll tend to later on there's the license deals Daniel (and folks, still haven't figured out if this is a one man operation or not!) works out. The label entered the ring with an LP version of THE JOHNNIES "12 Steps To Nowhere" cd previously out on their own Lawless Records. This band from the Boston area puts down a triple guitarassault, but manages to stay true to basic R'n'Roll power and punch. Adding to these fundaments a huge, oversized sicko sleazy in lyrics and putting the chords, riffs and breaks into an instant grabbing melody you're left with a band that rocks your liver from the very first note till the final blast. Besides a fully packed piece of tensed, topnotch punked up action, the KingVelveeda artwork, the big enclosed poster and the booklet just about overall the fun. The johnnies may have been the labels first effort, but it sure put them on the right spots as it was recieved with enormous positive feedback.
CARBON 14 #14: Every once in a great while, a band I've never heard of comes out of the blue and kicks my ass. One case was the Downside Special CD I reviewed in issue 14. It is still in heavy rotation at my crib. The same is true of " 12 Steps to Nowhere (Lawless/Alien Snatch!) by Cambridge, Mass. riff meisters THE JOHNNIES. I kinda had my suspicions this would be a good listen.The first tip was the cool cover by an artist who is also a C14 cover art alumnus, D.B. VelVeeda. I figured the Cheese wouldn't endorse crap and I was right. Another hint was in the thank you's: such luminaries as JEFF DAHL, TRASH BRATS and the GROOVIE GHOULIES. Cool art and good taste don't equal ROCK! but The Johnnies definitely do, and in spades. All 14 tracks have that prototype pop/punk mixture working. The finest elements of the Detroit and New York sounds have been pilfered by Mr. Dee Stroy and his fellow JOHNNIES and employed to the fullest. All the members have song writing credits and the sound is always punchy, tight and cohesive. There was not a bad track on 12 Steps but, in my opinion, "You Don't Know Me," where the protagonist prompts a fight because he fucked somebodys sister, and "Barbie's A Bitch," are standouts. For obvious reasons, I also enjoyed "Song For Paul." (Although the song was not written for or about me.) Hats off to THE JOHNNIES for playing rock music in the tried, tested and true tradition of such legends as the DEVIL DOGS and the RAMONES. As it says on the disc "Go Johnnies Go!" Words to live by.( Paul Bearer)
FLIPSIDE MAGAZINE : A fabulous slab of punk rock and roll outta Massachusetts. Had the pleasure of seeing the guys at The Rat´s couple of years ago and enjoyed them as much then as I do now. Strangest thing, after exciting the Rat we saw roaming bands of young women EVERYWHERE. I´m not kidding, there were no guys just hundreds of women. Strange thing, I´m not complaining, but it was like the "Planet of the Women". They would even run up to the van and stuff like Frankenstein guys full of stinky sweaty ADZ and ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN guys it was like the Boston Tea Party or something.Yeah, anyways, this one opens up with a Travis Bickie speech and blasts into great rocker about a muscle beach lunkhead "King of the Meat". Although most of the material is straight up punk rock and roll, THE JOHNNIES lean into some poppier anthemic punk rock, ala RAMONES ( not to say there is a real "pop" here), though " She´s been around" heads as close to that way, well, as close as the bamd can getwithout sounding sappy. Of course the sardonic tongue in cheek lyrics do help. Ah, well there a couple other songs ( for example: " She´s Walking Out Again" is a great song that maintains its dignity but is sprinkled with multiple hooks both vocally and musically and " Barbie´s a Bitch" with it´s oolalalas, and " You don´t know me" has some nice oozins ahs, too) and those delicious pop lyrics "That´s right, I fucked your sister, I did her almost every night ,do you wanna start a fight ?" are just begging for some radio airplay, or at least taunting the bejezzis outta someone OK, Ok, So it ain´t gonna end up on the radio, but there´s one song " It´s not over" that´s so good that it almost sounds like something written by a fiffties rocker. Really. I thought it was a cover. The song that follows it ("Real") could also have been a cover. Great songwriting. Anyway lotsa great guitars noodling, sing a longs, PISTOLS/RAMONES guitar structure and a nasty ass sense of humor make this brilliant collection of 14 Songs. A gotta listen to it again and again in this house of cards I live in, and unremarkablym I´m not sure the only person this house that feels that way about it. Recommend it ? Absolutely ! (Reflex)
NOW WAVE #7 July 1999: The fabulous one-and-only long-player from an often-overlooked Boston rocknroll band finally comes out on vinyl! 12 Steps To Nowhere, the johnnies' 1997 debut full-length recording, is a piece of music that absolutely begs to be heard on vinyl. Why? As I've always said, listening to a rocknroll recording on a compact disc is like wearing a condom while masturbating! Rocknroll needs to be heard on a turntable, the only piece of electronic equipment that is capable of doing justice to that thick, powerful buzz of vibrations that rocknroll creates! Lasers do not rock! When you play a record, the needle penetrates the vinyl in a very sexual manner. It's genuine physical contact, not immaculate electronic transcriptions of lasers, that drives the needle-to-record relationship. That relationship is intense and magical, and it plays a great part in the allure of rocknroll. There's no substitute for the magic of coming home with a new record, putting it on the turntable, and placing the needle on the vinyl in anticipation of the sounds to come! Can you imagine how different rocknroll would have turned out if Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis had come out of the CD age? Yikes! It's not like 12 Steps To Nowhere (Originally released on Lawless Records in 1997) wasn't somewhat satisfying in its original CD-only form. But let me be honest: I never truly heard this recording the way it was meant to sound until I found a copy outside my front door a few weeks ago! Alien Snatch Records, a German label, has finally saved the day and reissued this fantastic rocknroll record on vinyl! And if rocknroll sounds better on vinyl, it sounds even better on super-thick vinyl. This is the thickest slab of vinyl I have ever seen!!! It's massive! It even dwarfs T Rex's Electric Warrior !! For two years, I wondered why the band led off 12 Steps with its weakest song, "King Of The Meat". But one listen to "King Of The Meat" on vinyl made it all perfectly clear. "King Of The Meat"'s massive three-guitar roar, on vinyl, will blow your door off its hinges! And while there are no other tracks on the record remotely similiar to the skull-crushing "King Of The Meat", the song does set the tone. Like the champion who comes out swinging before winning the fight with finesse, the johnnies open 12 Steps with a bang. What follows is a non-stop barrage of perfect pop hits played with rocknroll aggression. The now-defunct johnnies were a unique band- more "pop" than most pop bands, yet as powerful as any first-rate rocknroll outfit. Imagine the UNDERTONES if the O'Neill brothers had been weaned on LAMF and AC/DC's Powerage- that was the johnnies! She's Been Around and She's Walking Out Again (both 1995), the Boston band's first two singles, remain two of 90's rock's finest moments. 12 Steps was a promising full-length debut that ended up as the band's last word. Luckily, the band didn't waste any time or space: the album is a sensational one. The deafening roar of guitarists Dee Stroy (who now fronts the splendid Dee Stroy And The D-Fex), Tim Downie, and Mike Scagliarini isn't too loud to overwhelm drummer Brian McCann's formidable beat, and the songs themselves are almost all first-rate. Dee Stroy, Scagliarini, and bassist Sean Soares shared songwriting duties. Between them, they managed 12 excellent pop/punk/rock hybrids ( and a cover of The DOGMATICS' "Shithouse"). "She's Been Around", "You Don't Know Me", "Dead", "Barbie's A Bitch", and "It's Not Over "Til It's Over" are as melodically pleasing as they are robust. The choruses are infectious, the melodies are succulent, and the chord changes are always right on target! The band managed to integrate both sugary harmonies AND absolutely scintillating lead guitar heroics into nearly every song! It's remarkable how well these songs have endured. There were records that I liked just as much as 12 Steps two years ago that I never listen to anymore (There's a lot of dust on my copy of that last RIVERDALES album!). Yet (Now that I've got it on vinyl!) I can't help but put this record on a lot as we hit mid-1999! Without a doubt, the test of time is the most important challange a record can face. Great songs endure: mediocre ones do not. If I waited two years before I reviewed all my records, most of them wouldn't even make the cut! 12 Steps To Nowhere, however, only seems to shine brighter as time passes. Like the U.S. Bombs' War Birth and the Dimestore Haloes Thrill City Crime Control, 12 Steps is a solid piece of evidence that 1997 was a great year for rocknroll. Tragically, there are far too many rocknroll enthusiasts who never got the chance to hear the johnnies during the band's all-too-brief career. Perhaps the release of this album will help get the name of this great rocknroll band back into circulation!
blankgeneration.com,e-zine: I'd heard quite a bit about this Boston band, but never heard 'em. Great lyrics (how many bands would actually sing "I wish I WERE drunk" in the proper tense? Somehow, this is significant to me) and funny as hell. Kind of a mid-to-slow tempo pop rock band--- they have elements of pop punk, but they add rock 'n roll guitars and never fall prey to the "one-two-one-two" drumming or borin' RAMONES-esque guitaring. The only other band I can think of right now doing similar shit would be the STILETTO BOYS, but that still doesn't really hit the mark. I dunno, if well-crafted but rockin' tunes with cool lyrics are yer bag, eat up. I'm liking this more w/ every listen. Oh--- the vinyl & thick cardboard sleeve make for a single LP thicker than "Sandinista," and you get a poster and a 20 page booklet in the deal. (Todd Trick Knee)
SKRATCH MAGAZINE: The JOHNNIES have delivered a superb debut full-length album. "12 Steps To Nowhere" that follows a couple great singles released in 1995 This Boston punk band has a truly classic '77 sound, with its hands dipped in both the UNDERTONES and the HEARTBREAKERS cookie jar. So you get perfect pop songs with rugged punk musicianship and sleazy rocknroll power. Nearly every song has BOTH sweet vocal harmonies AND killer rock guitar solos that could revive Thunders from the grave for a jam session. You get 14 songs, and nearly all of them are winners. "She's Been Around" will arouse the desires of those of you who wish the UNDERTONES were still around, while the pure pop "Barbie's A Bitch" and the hard rocking "King Of the-Meat" showcase a band with real musical range. What's great about the johnnies is that their sound ties together the old with the new. Their influences go way back to classic punk. rocknroll, and pop. but the "new school" kids will totally be able to dig what they're doing I'm so sick of all this "old school" Vs. "new school" slut anyway. The music of the johnnies proves that any such division of the punk scene is ludicrous anyway. If someone tells you that pop bands don't play "real punk rock", put them on the bus so they can go buy themselves a clue. The rocknroll sounds of bands like the johnnies will never die ! (jannice)
MOSHABLE #19: The first thing you notice about this LP is the superslick KingVelveeda artwork and the heavy vinyl. Very impressive !! Musically we´re talking RAMONES, rock´n´roll and ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN in a ´77 mood. All very neat and everything but it needs bigger balls and aggression to really do something for me. Pop Punk Fans will love THE JOHNNIES. First release on ALIEN SNATCH- cool name, huh ? (LK)
SIMPLE WRETCHED : Here´s another band that owes a fair amount of their sound to the HEARTBREAKERS, or maybe the DEAD BOYS. A lot of people will probably consider this more "rock" than "punk" , but whatever, ´cause these Bostonians are cool with me either way. Once again with the snotty vocals, these guys also know how to stick a melody in there as well as plenty of guitars leads that are tasteful rather than wanky. My favorite songs are "Dead", "She´s walking Out again", and "Barbie´s a Bitch" which were each written by a different member of the band. In fact, all five members have at least written on song on each album, and that´s pretty damn rare. A little slicker production than their 45s ( released as JOHNNY BRAVO before a stupid major label band bought their name), this still has a goodly amountof oomph to it and I just know these guys kick ass live. I´ll probably never get to see them, but this record will hold me over fine (sodapop)
Useless Earlyripes #13: ALIEN SNATCH ! Debutrelease des Snatchmans, der sich mit verbalen Huldigungen seiner Helden nicht zufrieden geben wollte und folglich beschloß deren musikalische 97er CD Ergüsse auf super superfettem 220 Gramm Vinyl pressen zu lassen ( die ersten 100 Direktbesteller konnten sogra noch eine limitierte Edition in weißem Vinyl ergattern, die inzwischen jedoch hoffnungslos vergriffen sein dürfte !). Und wie es sich bei einem Deluxe-Scheibe inclusive ausklappbarem Din A3-King Velveeda-Poster ( der gute Mann ist übrigens auch für die Covergestaltung zuständig) uns 20seitigem Textbooklet daher. Musikalisch frönt das Bostoner Quartett im klassischen ´77 Stil der Macht der drei Gitarren und erzeugt so verführerisch eingängigen Punk´n´Roll Pralinen. Ob nun bei "King of the Meat" in DICTATORS Tradition den Anabol-Steroiden gewidmet, auf " House of Style" mit wilder Leadgitarre die Medienpräsenz der Ex angeprangert oder ihr auf "Shithouse" der endgültige Laufpass gegeben wird, das Bostoner Quintett versteht sein Handwerk, Und weil die Band gleich mit vier (!!!!) begnadeten Songschreibern ans R´n´R-Tageswerk geht, gibts handwerklich excellent gemachte, eingängige Partysmasher der Extraklasse mit ordentlich verzerrten Gitarren, mehrstimmigen Vocals und Melodienreichtum ohne Weichspülereffekt. Allein schon für so geniale Texte wie den von "Barbie´s Bitch" gehören den Ex- JOHNNY BRAVO Mannen auf den Punk Rock Olymp verfrachtet (1,5/SC)
Ox-Fanzine #38, April 2000: Sowas nennt man dann "labour of love". Der gute Daniel hat an THE JOHNNIES einen derartigen Narren gefressen, daß er ihre 14-Song-Debut-CD nun als 220g fette Totschläger Vinyldelikatesse aufgelegt und sich damit in die Nähe des finanziellen Ruins getrieben hat. Seisers Michael ist soetwas wieder größte Fan der JOHNNIES, und auch wenn Mitch eine unüberhörbare Schwäche für pussyfizierten Pop hat (hehe !) , ist das hier alles andere als weichgespülter la-de-da. Die Herrschaften bestechen vielmehr durch angenehmen, einprägsame Melodien, wie man sie bereits auf ihrer " She´s walking out again" EP zu schätzen gelernt hatte, als die Band noch JOHNNY BRAVO nannte. Für das hymnenhaftze "Dead", das hier ebenfalls in leicht veränderter Form vertreten ist , hatte ich schon immer eine ziemliche Schwäche. " I don´t want to go through life in a muuun-daaane eeex-iis-taaance every day and niii-iiight !" King Velveeda, dessen Artwork ansonsten oft ziemlich dürftig ausfällt, hat hier ebenfalls einen seinen besseren Momente erwicht. Letzendlich spielt das hier dass aber alles keine Rolle, da die Platte mit einem aus " Taxi Driver" entlehnten Bob De Niro Zitat eingeläutet wird, wodurch jegliche Objektivität meinerseits von vornerein ausgeschlossen war. Anstelle der 75.Schablonen Pop-Punk.Platte solltest du lieber dieses 100%ig unterstütenswerte Produkt erwerben.Ya talkina me ? YA TALKINA ME ???? (nj)
FLYING REVOLVERBLATT # 20: Über diese LP habe ich nicht schlecht gestaunt. Dat hat jemand wirklich Idealismus gezeigt und eine limitierte LP-Version ( handnummeriert 1000) der CD dieser Band aus USA veröffentlicht und dazu extra ein Label gegründet und sein ganzes Geld in die superaufwendige LP gesteckt. Das Vinyl ist schon mal prächtige 220g schwer, dann gibts noch ein fettes Booklet und dann liegt auch noch ein Poster bei !! Hochachtung !! So ist´s perfekt ! und die Johnnies selbst sind such vom feinsten: Killer Pop Punk gibts hier von dieser Band, die vielleicht einigen noch als JOHNNY BRAVO geläufig ist und die mich ein wenig an die GROOVIE GHOULIES und SICKO erinnern. Volle Punktzahl !! (karl)
Plastic Bomp #27 Sommer 1999: Da hat sich der Daniel aber ins Zeug gelegt. Mußte er aber auch, denn im seinem Zine ist so mabcher durchgefallen, der anderswo hoch lebt. Aber auch wenn die Messlatte beim guten Daniel besonders hoch liegt, er nimmt sie mit Bravour. Die JOHNNIES LP ist von der Aufmachung zucker ( super Cover, Booklet und Poster) bringt mindesten 180g auf die Waage und bietet innendrin allerfeinsten melodiösen Punkrock ( nicht verwechseln mit MelodicPunk) US-amerikanischer Prägung... zwischen SLOPPY SECONDS und PADDED CELL angesiedelt, jagt ein Hit den Nächsten. Textlich auf allerhöchsten Unterhaltungsniveau und musikalisch genau auf den berühmten Punk(t) gebracht. Immer abwechslungsreich, trotzdem nicht nervig und darum ein echter Dauerrenner auf meinem Plattenteller. Das ist Champions-League verdächtig, wenn es denn in Deutschland zu Kenntnis genommen wird. Wäre schade, wenn diese Perle angesichts des ganzen Schrotts der sonst so erscheint, untergeht. Wer hier den Kauf wagt, kann nur gewinnen (Swen)
Moloko Plus # 14: War im 3RD GENERATION NATION so sehr gelobt worden, daß ich gutes Geld trotz meiner Postallergie in einen Umschlag stopfte und mir die Platte kommen ließe. Und was soll cih dazu sagen ? Es sit ein ziemlicher Kracher, Punkrock allerfeinster Sorte, gespielt mit 3 Gitarren. Man hat sicherlich die DEAD BOYS, auch die RAMONES gehört, ein Stück erinnert mich an die BARRACUDAS ("She´s been around"), der Gesang an GG ALLIN ("King of the Meat"), also ein ungewühnlicher und abwechslungsreicher Mix. Meine Anspieltips sind das rock´n´rollige " It´s not over" oder " She´s walking out again". Gecovert werden die DOGMATICS und ich tue jetzt einfach mal so, als ob ich mir das irgend etwas sagen müßte. Ist die Musik schon fein, muß auch die Austattung gelobt werden, fettes Vinyl, die ersten 100 in weiß, ein Heftchen mit allen Texten sowieso sowie ein hübsches aber unzüchtiges Poster von demselben Zeichner der auch das Cover liebevoll gestaltet hat.Also betsellt direkt oder nervt euren Plattendealer, kaufen oder blöd sterben. 10 Punkte für die Musik, für die Austattung müßten noch mal welche dazukommen ! (10/10,TB)
ZOMBIE CREEPING FLESH #2 Uhlalalala Uhlalala- here come THE JOHNNIES ! Ein Knallär ! Yeah, Punkrocksummertime ! Sehr gutes Album mit 14 RocknRoll Glam Punk Songs. " Barbie is a Bitch" ist für mich der herrausragende Hit eines überdurchschnittlichem gutem Album ohne Ausfälle. Zum eindordnen: Die JOHNNIES erinnern mich an SLOPPY SECONDS und die DEVIL DOGS und machen gute Laune Musik. (Ede)
GERDA #5 Geil, Geil, Geil, diese Platte ist wirklich ganz großartig, aber das weiß natürlich schon die halbe Welt, ich bin nur froh, daß ich dieses sauschwere, auf 1000 limitierte, weiße Vinylteil zugespielt bekommen habe. Die Aufmachung 1A, Comic-Cover mit Poster und Booklet und soviel Liebe reingesteckt, herlich ! Die Musik 1AA, hier rockt das Haus wie Sau.Genialer Punkrock und alles super abgemischt, ein Hit jagt den nächsten und mehr braucht man nicht sagen, kauft einfach, falls ihr das noch nicht getan habt (Silke)
3RD GENERATION NATION #15 Oh yeah, Baby, it´s time for the marvelous JOHNNIES !!!. Es gibt Scheiben die werden je öfters sie man hört immer genialer. Die 14 Songs die sich auf dem Debüt der JOHNNIES aus Boston tummeln gehören da ohne ´ne große Denkpause einzulegen garantiert dazu, große Band, große Songs.Am Anfang steht das Label mit dem coolen namen ALIEN SNATCH RECORDS. Und gleich mit seiner ersten Veröffentlichung hat er alle nur erdenklichen Trümpfe für einen optimalen Start hingelegt. Die LP erscheint im Original Cover-Artwork der CD. Desweiteren ist die 1000erAuflage handnummeriert. Ein Poster von dem Backcover der ersten Single " She´s been around" sowie ein schön aufbereitetes Booklet liegen der Grundaustattung sereienmäßig dabei. Als special Bonbon gibt es das Teil dann noch im extra schweren Vinyl. Ich sag nur 220g rult !! Wer direkt bestellt, der hat die Möglichkeit eine von den hundert weißen Vinylscheiben zu ergattern. Die musik der JOHNNIES lebt hauptsächlich von dem Charakter des großen JOHNNY THUNDERS und den nicht minder begnadeten TEENAGE HEAD aus Canada. Die JOHNNIES haben somit alle Register gezogen, die eine coole Rock & Roll Punkband der 90er ausmachen. Einfach großartig ! Absoluter Knaller !!