New Yorker Johnny Society churns out nifty little pop songs led by singer and songwriter Kenny Siegal, who delivers each line with raw intensity. GLAM 'N' GRIT Wood, the second album by New York City band Johnny Society, sounds like a classic. You can save your sequins for another band, however. Kenny Siegal is no one-trick pony. Strip away the accomplished band, the instrumental variety and Siegal's sophisticated arrangements and dazzling vocal melodies, and Johnny Society is the most hard-working, grittiest, best garage band this side of the '70s.
Wood is a welcome refresher course in the pleasures of heart-pounding rock.
Here's a band unafraid to rock like punk never happened. A rare album that sounds both cutting edge and straight out of the 70s. Here's a Melotron, there's a T-Rex swipe, and the John Lennon homage follows the other John Lennon homage. The band is aptly named, a cross of sophistication with a touch of garage scruffiness.