September 9, 2010

Jenny & Johnny: I'm Having Fun Now

As a project, Jenny & Johnny—despite the inherent cheesiness of its name and implications of a romantically involved duo playing music together—is an overwhelming success. It shouldn't be surprising to anyone that's seen the pair play together on the road during the Acid Tongue tour, with Rice making dynamic contributions to the funky and epic rock jam "The Next Messiah" and the occasional silly heart-on-the-sleeve cover "Love Hurts." Jenny Lewis, always spilling over with talent, works as well with beau Johnathan Rice as any other pairing to date from Blake Sennett to the Watson twins. On I'm Having Fun Now, songs fly out of the gate with uptempo rhythms and undeniably catchy vocal harmonies that feel completely natural and unforced. A comparison to She & Him is lazy but to make one point: where M. Ward lurks in the shadows of his production duties behind Zooey Deschanel, Lewis and Rice share the spotlight in terms of vocal and songwriting duties with incredible ease. If you're looking for a classic pop-heavy rock album that hits every song over the head with a pitch-perfect delivery, you've found it.

Jenny & Johnny - "Big Wave" (from I'm Having Fun Now)
Jenny & Johnny - "Love Hurts" (Nazareth cover)

Jenny
Posted by Matt Carr
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2 comments:

  1. Love Hurts is not a Nazareth cover. Indeed Nazareth did do a cover of it themselves, but this is a much older song, originally recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1960. Roy Orbison does a great version of it, as well as Cher (maybe not great, but nevertheless). My personal favorite is by Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons in 1973. Nazareth recorded their version in 1975.

    Thanks for sharing.
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  2. Yea I've read the wiki article on it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Hurts). None of the bands wrote the song however, so I wrote in Nazareth as they recorded the best known version.

    I also love that Parsons/Harris version. A friends been playing that live recording with the Fallen Angels band, "Live 1973"--an absolute classic.
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