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Hi My Name Is Jonny ( 1996 )
8.5
Love Lovely Love / Truly Ugly and Dead Too / In My Mind / Evil Scurvy Love / Gone Away / Down Low / Half Mind / It’s Good to Sleep / I Don’t Know What to Dream at Night / Uh-Oh
Going
for 2.50 Euro (God bless the sales bins!), this ultra-short album (24:15)
is one of the best buys I ever did. In 1995, Polonsky, a 20-year old struggling
amateur musician, attracted the interest of his hero, ex-Pixies front-man
Frank Black, who got interested in the kid’s songs and eventually secured
him a record deal with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings. The surprising
result reminds me a bit of the better moments of Jonathan Richman (the late
70’s-period with the Modern Lovers) and Matthew Sweet, but mainly of
Frank Black’s own solo output, although Polonsky’s lyrical matter
is probably slightly less weird, and his music a bit more accessible. But
like Black, Polonsky is his own man, and according to the liner notes he performed
the entire album himself. The result is a spiky brand of power pop, unpretentious
and with astonishingly infectious melodies, while the sound (Polonsky’s
self-recorded tapes were mixed by the notorious Brendan O’Brien (Pearl
Jam, The Black Crowes, RATM, etc.)) is excellent, with quite some loud drums
(cf. early Pixies), acoustic and electric guitar, and some piano-touches here
and there. Definitely not your average pop star, Polonsky succeeds in providing
songs that have a charming and often timeless quality, even after many spins.
Album opener “Love Lovely Love” is one of the most joyous love songs I ever heard. Indeed, for once it’s not a song about heartbreak (in the misery-obsessed 90’s!), but the ideal side of love, which Polonsky isn’t ashamed to address: “And I break out with copious tears, rejoicing at the joy in my life at the moment, yeah I can break out with numerous fears, I can’t believe that somehow you would want me with you.” At 1:47, “Truly Ugly and Dead Too” is over before you realize it, but soon you’ll realize you’re stuck with a great chorus in your head. “In My Mind” really reminds me of Black’s efforts, but that's to be seen as a positive thing here, since Polonsky is more than capable of coming up with first-rate stuff of his own, notwithstanding the classic approach (acoustic verse, loud electric chorus). Equally impressive are the lengthier “Half Mine” (going on for an astonishing 4:04), which has some cool effects that give the guitar a “watery” sound, and the similar “Uh-Oh,” perhaps the album’s most nonsensical song, which has a chorus that consists of only “Uh” and “Oh” and has other metaphysical lines such as “Later that day near the ruins of old Pompeii, I learned of what it was that had felled me, standing in the sand, talking to a wise woman, she said ‘Oh, don’t you know boy? Souvlaki!.” “Gone Away” is reminiscent of Jonathan Richman’s primitivism and contains a grand theatrical solo-moment. “Down Low” and “I Don’t Know What to Dream at Night” speed things up for a while, and are exciting little gems (both clocking in under two minutes) with a simple structure, but a perfect rousing execution. It should be clear by now that I consider Hi My Name Is Jonny one hell of a record (a 8.5). It’s indeed a pity that Jonny Polonsky's output is so meagre (I think he only released one EP (2001) since this album), mainly as a result of label-problems. Therefore this album should be treasured, because it’s so worth it. Go, Jonny, go!
Note: check out Polonsky’s website (which hasn’t been updated for a while, I think), www.jonnypolonsky.com, for more information, and if you like what you see, send him an e-mail, just like I did. He’s a nice guy, so he’ll get back to you. Artists like him deserve more than they get.
Touched by Genius : The Ultimate TAJP Collection (2003)
8
Jingle Bells / Wheat and Rice / Castration Dance / Yeah, You Know I Got a Tuxedo … Uh, Doesn’t Everybody? / Ballad for an Aging Bandito / P.S.A. from Your Local Incubus / The Legend of Beaver Man Spats / El Perro Caliente / Prelude to Greatness / Midget with a Dog / Try on Me / I Love Madonna / Garflinggg, P.I. / The Bom Ba Bom Ba Bomp Song / Tales from the Last of a Dying Breed / Rig Jig/The Slaw of Maille McGraw / I’m Incontinent / Love Lovely Love / It’s Good to Sleep / Like an Ordinary Jew / My Humongous Cock / Truly Ugly and Dead Too / Gone Away / Evil Scurvy Love / Do the Scapegoat / Hey Hombuderto! / Little Flower / Take a Rod to Santa’s Head
The
“TAJP” in the title stands for ‘The Amazing Jonny Polonsky,’
the name JP used when he released his first demos (strictly on tape). At the
time, the adjective “amazing” may have sounded a bit snotty, but
it certainly fits the music, most of which is equally bratty and a few years
after these demos were recorded, Polonsky would prove himself worthy of the
word with the release of the exceptional Hi My Name Is Jonny, so
he could’ve called himself ‘The Incredible Jonny Polonsky’
and I still wouldn’t have been offended. Anyway, this compilation contains
the demos Aw, Blow It Out Yer Ass – A Tribute to Groundhog’s
Day (1992), The Amazing Jonny Polonsky is a Premium White American
(1993), I Like Porn (1994) and two bonus tracks. All together, that’s
28 songs that rush past in less than 49 minutes. Hello Minuteman! This compilation
also contains the stuff that Reeves Gabrels passed on to Frank Black, who
thought it was “totally rockin’ stuff,” and he’s right,
because most of these songs burst with talent, an amount of hooks most bands
need an entire career for and a diversity that’s quite common among
starting musicians like him (“you can never have enough ideas,
right?”), but that are rarely executed this infectiously.
Now, compared to his full-length (of 24 minutes), the songs from the first two demos are more memorable for their humor and brevity (the first demo, of eight songs, is approximately 11 minutes long) than for their structure or strong melodies, but as a trip through a gifted lunatic’s mind it’s a total blast. Starting off with a c&w-swing-meets-lots-of-nonsense-version of “Jingle Bells,” the first demo contains stuff that sounds like Tex-Mex done by Camper Van Beethoven (“El Perro Caliente”), The Butthole Surfers interpreted by Ween (“P.S.A. from Your Local Incubus”), The Coasters on a foul-mouthing trip (“The Legend of Beaver Man Spats”) or the stuff that would turn Calexico into critic’s favorites (“Castration Dance”). The second demo continues in a similar vein, with more deranged takes on cheesy fifties pop and doo-wop such as the 50 seconds of “Midget With a Dog” or the completely insane “Try On Me.” Furthermore, “Garflinggg, P.I.” sounds like a collaboration of Angelo Badalamenti and Tom Waits doin’ lounge, “Tales from the Last of a Dying Breed” refers to Ennio Morricone’s Spaghetti-scores with galloping drums and slashing twangy-guitars, while “Rig Jig/The Slaw of Maille McGraw” (with a helium voice delivering lyrics such as “For the beaver is good, but not as good as the foot or the slaw of Maille McGraw”) could have been taken from an imaginary Shane McGowan album, after undergoing a lobotomy. I’m sorry about these weird comparisons, but they do make it easier to describe the stuff here.
However, the true weight of the compilation is in the 10-song third demo, with Polonsky suddenly churning out inane slabs of driven and outstanding powerpop-with-an-edge, six of which would end up on his debut album. Tracks such as the hard-rocking “I’m Incontinent,” which is much more self-assured than the title suggests, “Love Lovely Love” (still one of the best happy songs I ever heard), the raw “Truly Ugly and Dead Too” (complete with echo-laden vocals), the side-splitting country of “Like an Ordinary Jew” and the punky “My Humongous Cock” (re-titled as “I Don’t Know What to Dream at Night” on the album) resonate with an undeniable knack for melodies and target the head ànd the gut. Of course, these tracks are a bit scruffier than the final album-versions, but there’s no doubt about the guy’s (only about 20-21 years old at this point) self-confidence. Touched by Genius is certainly not everybody’s cup of funny tea and it’s probably not the place to start your Polonsky-collection with either (the debut remains the 24-minute blow-up), but if you like the man’s stuff, it’s definitely worthwhile checking out where he came from. On the other hand, any Polonsky you can get is a good one, as even the throwaways are at least remarkable.
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