Johnossi -Johnossi

John Engelbert and Ossi Bonde are two Stockholm based school friends who combine strengths to form the awesome musical combo Johnossi, in a way not to dissimilar to the Power Rangers if they picked up guitars instead of fighting monsters.

The album runs the whole gauntlet of styles from acoustic ballads to out and out rockery. You could compare them to The Flaming Lips, Wolfmother and Willy Mason but that only covers about 5 minutes of this album. Usually this means bands don’t have any identity or idea of what they’re about. Johnossi though, are Jack of all trades and masters of each and every one.

The touching lullaby-ish ‘Family Values’ stresses the importance of family (naturally) and follows the funky low-down groove of ‘Man Must Dance’ which enthuses over the importance of moving those feet. New download single ‘Execution Song’ could be from the mind of Jack White and is a ballsy rock song with frantic drumming and some feisty guitars.

There’s a sense of Americana that runs through the heart of this record and the duo also have a way with words. ‘You don’t build a city in a day/ but in 20 years you should have something’ and ‘Had a mother and her name is Carolina/ Carolina is a state in the states/I think there’s 50 but there’s only one mother/ and she won’t even look at my face’ are just a couple of the gems to be found here.

‘Summerbreeze’ is simply a beautiful, lyrically bittersweet, song that bookends the album perfectly. With everything played on an acoustic guitar, feed through two amps and a heavy dose of effects Johnossi have created something striking, joyous and timeless. Check out their website, myspace or track down a video on youtube and you’ll soon be converted.

http://www.johnossi.com
http://www.myspace.com/johnossi


Graham Emmerson