Get Steady

Johny Lives! | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Eleven Seven Music
• ASIN: B000FUF820
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,163 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. No Good

2. Get Steady

3. Outside

4. Breaking Down

5. Cliche

6. Lost My Mind

7. Diamonds & Roses

8. Everybody's Trying To Break You Down

9. Love Conspiracy

10. Something About It

11. Miraculous Sky

12. Do It AGain

13. B-Side

14. Secret

Editorial Reviews

1. No Good 3:13 2. Get Steady 3:18 3. Outside 3:00 4. Breaking Down 2:40 5. Clich� 2:21 6. Lost My Mind 3:19 7. Diamonds & Roses 3:01 8. Everybody's Trying to Break You Down 3:20 9. Love Conspiracy 3:19 10. Something About It 3:20 11. Miraculous Sky 2:15 12. Do It Again 3:51 13. B-Side 2:20 14. Secret 4:10

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars crisp & sparkly stick-in-your-head pop/rock, November 12, 2009

By 

Charlie Quaker "The Quaker Goes Deaf" (Normal, IL.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Get Steady (Audio CD)

Everything about them reads, looks and sounds trendy. They wear white suits, tour with all the hot bands (Killers, Sonic Youth, Kaiser Chiefs), show up in American Eagle and Nokia marketing campaigns, feature guest spots from members of the Strokes, Fountains Of Wayne and Mooney Suzuki, and the band members have played with Luscious Jackson, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, White Light Motorcade, and Liz Phair's band. How's that for some name dropping? They even have the rock star audacity, on their debut album, to put an exclamation mark at the end of the band name! Thing is, these guys know their way around a song, and they rock like maniacs on a mission to conquer the world. There are fourteen songs here. Twelve of them are radio-ready hits, and the two leftovers are better than almost all the payola parading as music on the radio today. "Get Steady" is a bonafide monster of an album, with songs that will stick in your head for months.
Crawling from the curbs of the Lower East Side New York City scene (birthplace of Interpol, Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Jonny Lives! combine influences from classic rock acts like the Who, the Kinks and David Bowie with a love for the British pop feel of Oasis/Blur, the cleverness of Art Brut/Television Personalities, the mod energy of the Jam/Libertines, and the edgy East Coast sophistication of the Strokes/Velvet Underground. The band's songs all grow from a basic pop/rock chord structure, but expand (and often explode) in varied and unexpected directions. Everything sounds familiar, but fresh and vibrant with crisp, sparkly guitars and tunes you'll want to hum all night long. It's like watching a fireworks show: you know there will be loud explosions and brilliantly colored mushroom cap clouds, but you're never sure what's coming next, and everytime the sky lights up, it's a thrill.
Everytime singer/guitarist Jonny Dubowski cranks the volume on his star-powered string machine and launches into another potential classic song it's the same thrill. Instantly memorable hooks fly off the fretboard, spiraling a glittery trail of post-Radiohead pop residue. This is a disc packed with simple and brilliant pop songs, all played with a gritty, anthemic rock edge by four New York guys with their eyes on the prize. And they deserve it! This record parties in your head, it parties on the dance floor, and it parties like Iggy Pop's pants in the hallowed halls of rock `n' roll cool. "Get Steady" will spend a lot of time caressing every orgasmic drip our of your hungry eardrums.

4.0 out of 5 stars Get steady, August 19, 2006

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Get Steady (Audio CD)

New York indie-rockers Jonny Lives! make their full-length debut in "Get Steady" (not to be confused with the "Get Steady" EP). They let loose with a brand of raucous, wild rock'n'roll that takes basic Britpop-inflected rawk'n'roll, and adds a punky edge. They're not as steady in folky balladry, but they are solid when the bass'n'guitar are roaring.

It opens with a slightly squawky bassline, which sounds like it's being filtered through an old radio. Then frontman Jonny Dubowsky starts with a tale of : "I'm laughing at the words you speak/spread the ashes of everyone's troubles/all over the floor/because I just can't take it!" It launches off into a solid pop-rock tune with plenty of catchy, powerful riffs.

They continue that sound with a series of catchy, punky-edged rock songs, with the circular Britpoppiness of "Outside," the raw sound of the title track, the R&B-ish flavour of "Love Conspiracy," and the sneering attitude of hard-rocking "Cliche." Raw riffs and driving basslines abound, and surprisingly they keep sounding pretty fresh.

But it's not all catchy. Jonny Lives tries out some slower, more experimental stuff here and there, like they're testing the water. "Breaking Down" is an acoustic guitar ditty, which sounds quite restrained compared to the rock numbers. And "Do It Again" is an unseen highlight on this album -- a slow, fuzzy pop gem.

Jonny Lives is one of those bands that doesn't sound like anyone in particular -- there are moments of classic punk, Britpop, and even the gritty sound of the New York City music scene. Since New York is a bit short on new indie music for the moment, this is a welcome release.

It may take a few listens to "get" this album. At first listen, the circling guitars and bass sound repetitive, and in a few of the songs they do get rather tiring. But once you've heard it a few times, the layered guitars and vocals start to grow on you. Sometimes it's simple punk-flavoured rock, and sometimes it dabbles into something a bit more complex.

The lyrics are what you'd expect -- tales of girlfriends, love conspiracies, and prepping for the music biz. "I don't need no cheap success!" Dubowsky snarls in one of the songs. He has a good voice -- he can rise over the dirty riffs without being drowned out, and can croon fairly well over the softer songs.

Summertime is traditionally a time for pop music, but try the catchy rock of Jonny Lives instead, this summer. Slightly raw, a bit punky, but still catchy enough to dance to.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If He Lives or Dies, Who Cares?, April 4, 2007

By 

S. Donovan Mullaney "Shea Mullaney" (Plymouth, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Get Steady (Audio CD)

I wanted to like Get Steady from Jonny Lives. The quote from The Village Voice on the CD cover promised "Post-Radiohead pop/rock with teaming guitars and airy vocals," and went on to tell me that I "owe it to [my]self to see them." They even have an impressive line-up of special guests including Nick Valensi of The Strokes. And then there's the cover art, featuring the band in white tuxedos at a full-course banquet meal on the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge. I couldn't tell whether or not it was Photoshopped, but it's a cool idea nevertheless.

So, I eagerly listened to the first couple of tracks, "No Good" and the title track, "Get Steady" and noticed the slick production, aggressive guitar riffs, simple chord structures and decent vocals. But nothing jumped out at me. Nothing was particularly interesting, no lyrics profound jumped out.

In fact, the title track is particularly sophomoric despite its slightly ironic take on the misogynistic behavior of guys with newfound success: "I don't need no cheap success, I'm ready I'm ready, get steady, get steady. Fools like us could live like kings, I'm ready, I'm ready, get steady, get steady." Rhyming ready and steady isn't that creative in the first place, so why do it twice? Thinking of all the indie acts with brilliantly tortured lyrics who starve in the street instead of getting record deals makes me wonder how these guys ever got signed.

But I kept listening. The next few tracks did nothing for me, except occasionally remind me of my old Everclear and Blur albums from the 90s. Once they even caught a bare fraction of the funk-rock of the Chili Peppers. Unfortunately, it's all ground that those bands cover far better than Jonny Lives. Until I got to "Cliche." OK. If you're going to name a song "Cliche," you'd better make sure it's a darn good song and NOT at all cliched. Sadly, Jonny Lives failed again.

There is one almost redeemable track on this album, "Everybody's Trying to Break You Down," which has some interesting minored-sounding chords. Except for the lyrics, which rip off The Doors: "I said babe, we can't get much higher."

Altogether, this album is completely forgettable. If this is how Jonny lives, he'd better get a life.