Johnny Q. Public

Item: Extra Ordinary
Author: Robert Berman

Extra Ordinary

Reviewed by Robert Berman

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Label Gotee RecordsThe LighthouseDecember 1995

alternative rock grunge hard rock rock

You've got to admire Johnny Q. Public. When a new band has the bravado to name their debut album Extra*Ordinary, you might think they're raising expectations a little higher than they deserve, especially when the band's picture looks more like a gang from the video arcade than the recording studio. But Johnny Q. Public delivers their goods with both energy and wit, and while the album may not quite live up to the expectations of its title, it's certainly more than simply "ordinary."

Fans of The Offspring or Green Day should immediately connect with the fuzz-laden guitars, hooky songs, and quirky lyrics which Johnny Q. Public offers. Guitarists Oran Thornton and Shawn Turner make a lot of noise, so it's a little odd that one to four "additional musicians" were required to help the band on every single song, including numerous appearances from ex-Chagall Guevaran Wade Jaynes on bass. Vocalist Dan Fritz claims that "I don't know how to sing, but I'll scream blessedly!" but he sings pretty well, too, even when he's not delivering a Mortalic howl, as in "Scream."

The band does a great job at arranging the songs with an impressive variety of sounds and effects, from "Zoo Station" vocals on the King's Xish "Black Ice" to a very Altar Boys approach on "Why" to goofy acoustic guitars on "Women Of Zion." This song is a profoundly silly adaptation from Isaiah 3:12-20 which gets a little annoying after a while, but it's still a fun novelty song. The album's second half finds Johnny Q. Public taking a startlingly polished, professional approach with "Secret Trees" and "Violet," but just as many songs have the unpolished approach of the Johnny Q. Public "Preacher's Kid," a lamentation of PK loneliness. It's nice of them to include the chords to their songs-or rather, it would be, if the chords listed accurately represent the music (they frequently don't). But you budding electric guitarists have no need to worry, as Johnny Q. Public takes a thrashing power-chord approach to most songs. The word on the Net is that there's a bonus song hidden before the first track on the CD, but I can't confirm that with my cassette copy.

Johnny Q. Public also does a great job of imbedding the Gospel clearly in their songs without being preachy. "As I Pray" shows Jesus' agonies in the Garden, and "Big Top" seems to be a critique of overly entertainment-oriented church services. Of special interest to some will be the two excellent covers of 1970's Christian music classics "Reader's Digest" (by Larry Norman) and "Gotta Serve Somebody" (from Bob Dylan). Both songs resonate strongly with the original versions, including updated lyrics mentioning Nirvana and River Phoenix for "Reader's Digest," which would have been a highlight of the recent Larry Norman tribute album, had it been included. Spelling errors are nothing new to Christian music liner notes, but I'm baffled at how "trillion aires" became two words, or how "pallbearers" somehow became "Paul bearers." Dictionary, anyone?

Johnny Q. Public's first public offering of songs should put them on the music map in a big way. This album is easily one of my most-listened-to albums of the month, and it has aged gracefully so far. Other than Fleming and John, I can't think of another album so far this year which I'd recommend more highly to fans of heavy modern rock. That may not make it "extraordinary," but it's certainly a great start.