Oh Johnny Foreigner, the only band to put out a record last year that I enjoyed more than either of the Los Campesinos! records. Quite an impressive feat given there is only three of them when the other lot have seven. Even more impressive given their album, Waited Up Til It Was Late was largely made up of older, re-recorded songs. Nearly two and a half years down the line though, they still sound as fresh as they ever did.
Of course, it’s still lovely to hear some new material, so it was a nice surprise last week when the band threw up a zip file on their Myspace page containing two new songs: Ghost the Festivals and Ohai, Sentinels. The first has been around for a while now, both in live sets and a couple of videos out there in Youtubeland, but it’s nice to have proper recordings. The production may be a little rough around the edges, but I’d expect nothing less.
Ghost the Festivals manages to sum up my own experiences at Reading last year, but I imagine the language is pretty universal. From escaping the site before the riots on the final night to the endless sea of tents to hanging out in the VIP area with free drinks. Although I must have been doing something wrong as my drinks certainly weren’t free. £2.50 for a tiny glass of Coke? Jesus.
There isn’t anything particularly new in these songs. When you hit the perfect formula with your first album, I suppose it makes sense to keep it up. Which is fine with me. So long as the next record is even half as good as the first, it’ll still probably be the best thing released this year.
Johnny Foreigner Is Aces (containing both Ghost the Festivals and Ohai, Sentinels) is available to download from the band’s Myspace page for the next ten days or so. Both songs are also on an exclusive tour EP that the band will be touting during their European tour with the mighty Sky Larkin.
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"You only get to appreciate what you do when you're not doing it," says bassist Rob Canning, slurping on a tea. "and now we're back, we're buzzing to go."
PART ONE: WELCOME TO 2008
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