Johnny Foreigner - Arcs Across The City EP

Black Kids. Yeasayer. Vampire Weekend. I don't think you can move around in the blogosphere without seeing one of these bands mentioned. Do they deserve it? Possibly. One band that should have had similar blog success is Birmingham three piece Johnny Foreigner.

Thankfully, critical acclaim has not eluded them. Appearances in the NME and Rocksound have been followed by Radio 1 and Kerrang sessions. Not to mention their rise to minor indie celebrity status thanks to their progress in the Road To V festival competition, televised on Channel 4 this summer. Myself, and a few other bloggers (Another Form Of Relief and clicky clicky music blog, in particular) have supported them also, for a long time now. In fact, they're the only band to be featured on two of my podcasts. Which you should obviously go listen to if you haven't already [#1 and #3]

"Lo-fi, pop-punk, speeded-up-Americana, boy-girl vocal sparring, the occasional gem of a lyric and you know you're onto a winner." That's a quote from a post back in February [link]; it can be summarised to Johnny Foreigner = ace.

The 'Arcs Across The City' EP (mini-album?) features seven of their tracks, with only one of them being previously released. And almost all of them are pretty great. They may be a bit less lo-fi now but the charm is still there. Opener 'Champagne Girls...' exhibits Johnny Foreigner's animated scuzzy pop perfectly, and the vivacious mood continue throughout until 'This Band Is Killing Us', where the band mellow. To be honest, this track isn't even needed with the magical 'All Mosely Gardens' appearing at the end of the EP as a secret track. This is the highlight of the EP, a refreshing delicate facet to the typically frenzied nature of Johnny Foreigner. Add to that past gems 'Sofacore' and 'Yes! You Talk Too Fast' and we find ourselves with an infectious release, which is better than most ALBUMS. Then again, I'm not much of an album man anyway. It's still a fantastic EP and one worthy of your immediate attention.

Johnny Foreigner - Champagne Girls I Have Known [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
Johnny Foreigner - This Band Is Killing Us/All Mosely Gardens [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

Johnny Foreigner are currently recorded their debut album in America with some bloke called Machine. Apparently, he's produced Fall Out Boy and Eighteen Visions stuff. If they can build upon new stuff like 'Salt, Pepa And Spinderella' below, I predict awesomeness.



'Arcs Across The City' is out now (released 26/11) on Best Before Records. Buy from [HMV].