Halo

Johnny Smoke

Independent Release, 1996

REVIEW BY: Paul Hanson

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/05/1998

With some members living in Iowa City and some residing in Cedar Rapids, Johnny Smoke is afforded some unique advantages. They can claim two hometowns. Their 1996 debut tape Halo travels through a wise and interesting selection of emotions. Among the delicate grooves are the prevalent themes of love and needing to be loved. The eleven track tape was recorded in one of the band member's kitchen and mixes groove-oriented music, delectable two-part vocal parts and scorching arrangements. Since the band has been together long enough to weed out a bass player or two and six drummers, Johnny Smoke has fine-tuned their craft. Currently getting limited gigs in their hometowns, the band is working to break to a higher level in the coming months. The band is currently putting the final touches on a new release.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

During the summer of 1996, when this first came out, I coined the phrase "Summer of the Smoke." Judging from the catchy riff of "Broken," it seems to be only a matter of time before the band enjoys widespread recognition. Just when "Broken" seems to be ending, the catchiest riff this side of the ole Miss jumps back in, followed by the rest of the band. Carefully executed two-part harmonies on "River Baby" accentuate the band's strength. Trippy lyrics in the title track "Halo" like "Sweet little taste of your daisy wine/ would taste just fine to keep me down /maybe just a little/ but not right now" showcase the band's ability to maintain the listener's ear with interesting lyrics.

Much of the material here revolves around an acoustic guitar rhythm. This allows vocalist Corey Ritter the opportunity to stretch out his lungs. Rhythm guitarist Kristoff Truemper blends his voice into Ritter's, forming a strong vocal department. The backbeat of Dan Felmeth gives the band a solid base, most evident in "Broken" and "Lemonade." Guitarist Timm Lin adds creative leads that fit into the song's structure, changing his tones from clean to dirty tones, all depending on the song, all tasteful.

Johnny Smoke seemed poised for domination of the local scene when this came out a couple of years ago. The band successfully tossed aside the safe song structure of "verse, chorus, verse" in favor of original song structures resembling stew. The Smoke has been playing a lot of local gigs in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area over the past two years and are preparing a new release in the very near future. Until that is available to the public, I'd get a hold of this tape ASAP. You can contact Johnny Smoke at:

Rating: A

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 1998 Paul Hanson and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Independent Release, and is used for informational purposes only.