brash and confident, stylish and thoroughly entertaining
www.myspace.com/jonnycolaandtheagrades
Ever wondered what the offspring of David Bowie and Damon Albarn would be like? No, neither had I, (had anyone?) until I heard this lot. Mr Cola’s voice certainly reminds me of both David and Damon, at the same time, which was quite surprising at first but certainly makes for quite an entertaining mixture and the A-grades certainly back him up to good effect.
Musically, there’s a lot of Blur in here too, particularly a mix of the bagginess of Modern Life Is Rubbish and the poptastic Parklife but there’s a scuzziness to their sound that reminds me of Suede, more than anybody. Having said that, these guys aren’t playing copycat. They sound fully formed. Yes, they’re as Britpop as anything but they’re a barrel load of fun and the songs are great. They’re brash and confident, stylish and thoroughly entertaining. Poppy and totally anthemic, this lot are the complete package. This is the kind of band the indie scene has been crying out for and, to put it simply, this is one of the best indie albums I’ve heard in a long time. Make the effort to find this because they’ve certainly put the effort into making it.
Top marks. A+
Words: Damian Leslie