Album Review: Johnny Wore Black - Walking Underwater Pt 2

I'm never sure what to think of an album when the press material that comes along with it spends most of the words talking about the artist's other career, and the collaborators who contributed to the music. Neither of those is important in the slightest to the final product, which will have to survive on its own merit. Knowing a famous name was associate with it, or that the artist once did something in a different industry that was interesting, is not going to make me think any differently of the music I'm listening to. That is sort of the case for Johnny Wore Black's new album, which comes along with plenty of biography, and mentions of co-writer of several songs David Ellefson.

Throwing his name into the mix is an easy way to get a little publicity, but not only does it not help warm my feelings towards the music before I hear it, I'm actually left wondering why they would spend so much time promoting the collaboration with someone who is not at all known for writing great songs. Ellefson is a bassist, and a good one, but his contributions to his main gig in Megadeth are seldom, if ever, essential.

“Firefly” is the album opener, one of the aforementioned co-writes, and a song that does not live up to the hype whatsoever. It's a fine little song, but the main riff lacks teeth, and the hook is good but not nearly sold well enough. It sounds like a second-rate rock band, because that's essentially what it is. The presence of a member of metal 'royalty' doesn't change that. Frankly, I think the marketing strategy for this record does it a disservice, pointing attention in the wrong direction.

Speaking strictly for the music, I can't say I hear anything impressive. It's very much standard-fare post-grunge rock music, which means it's going to be moody and dark, with hints of melody that never blossom into full hooks. On top of that reality, there's the fact that the production is fairly weak, and Jay is not a particularly strong singer. Added up, the whole thing doesn't sound powerful at all, and comes across as a bit amateurish.

A song like “Comfy Slippers” doesn't stand out in any way, and barely has a melody to it, which makes it filler. “Fallen Angel” is better, but the melody is so simple that it's not a hook at all. It falls into that trap of thinking that big, long notes are a substitute for an interesting melody, but Jay doesn't even have the vocal chops to match what he wrote.

Things get better on the back half of the record, with “I Do Dissolve” and “Noise” both serving as solid rock songs. “Shine On” is the best song on the album, a duet that mixes a good hook with some Beatles-like sounds. It's the one moment on the record that feels like it isn't trying to be something else, and that may explain why it stands above the rest of the tracks.

I'm not going to say this is a bad record, because it's not. It's a decent little rock record, but that's all it is. There's nothing on here that will make you stand up and take notice, nor is there anything that is going to linger in your mind after the record is over. It's solid, but given the way it was sold, I was expecting something that at least sounded like more.