Customer Reviews

I'm Having Fun Now

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a big fan of Jenny Lewis' music - I even enjoyed the last Rilo Kiley CD more than most people did - I was excited to learn about her new duet album with Johnathan Rice. It turns out to be as good as I could have hoped, with some very catchy rock-pop tunes with fetching vocals by Jenny and appealing duet harmonies. (Try the chorus of "Big Wave" for starters.) The settings for these 11 songs are usually a loose sort of indie rock, although an occasional wild card pops up such as the spacey lullaby "While Men Are Dreaming."

Over the past few years there have been a bunch of duet albums from man-woman combos, sometime lovers, often involving an actress trying out a singing career. The `She & Him' grouping comes immediately to mind (just friends, those two), as well as Scarlett & Pete and the Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs "Under the Covers" CDs. This Jenny & Johnathan musical pairing is as good as any of those, if not better.

I find that I keep using the word 'love' when describing this album. I love its deceptively sweet flavor (with a dark complicated underbelly). I love the call-and-response and/or echoing lyrics. I adore the instances where their voices divide/intersect on the respective choruses. I thoroughly dig Jenny's "riffs" in "Scissor Runner." I love the awe-inspiring uses of harmony on the album as a whole. You will find yourself singing or humming along with Jenny and/or Johnny -- it's practically inevitable. The songs are infectious. The chemistry between Jenny and Johnathan is immediately apparent. I feel like there is no song on the album that distinctly hers or distinctly his, and that this was a true collaborative creation. It is an uniquely beautiful album.

This album was my intro to these artists and I was delighted with the discovery. Heard a sample on npr and bought this to accompany a trip to the deep sunny south. A perfect road tripping choice. The vocals are lovely listening and the music is lively and enjoyable. The lyrics tend toward the darker side of things, but the bold foot tapping rhythms and bright refreshing harmonies work to lift the edge and make it sparkle. Life's bitter pill never tasted so sweet.

Jenny lewis makes her 3rd band debut here.
first track scissor runner is a very nice track and opens the album well. cool beat.
pet snakes is also a good tune.
big wave is a great pop song by lewis..love it
my favorite track on the album has to be Animal. "show your teeth at everyone, dont let no one prove you wrong...your an animal"
straight edge of the blade is very catchy..love it too.
strangely the itunes bonus song is good too. its a shame its not on the album...its called the highs and lows of being #1.

It's fantastic from start to finish. I got this for my birthday last summer and it took me a few months to pull the vinyl out of the packaging because I've been a little leery of JLew projects in years of late - but I'm 1000000000% happy that this was as good as I was hoping.

I love the dreamlike sound of "Switchblade" and the sad but upbeat, poppy sound of "Big Wave." The album is sweet, dark, defiant, jubilant, and best of all amazing :)

In fact I am listening to it right now!

I must say I am not a fan of Rilo Kiley, I found that band a bit boring and
Jenny Lewis's solo albums are decent, not earth shattering. I read a positive
review of the Jenny & Johnny CD but it didn't enter my mind to check it out until
hearing the song "Switchblade" on an online radio station and was floored, I
actually bought the CD just for that track-what a delight to find the whole album
is well written, well paced and well played. With every spin I love this CD more
I hope they continue the joint efforts.This is my favorite Pop album since Tom Petty's Mojo and The Monsters of Folk CD. If you like this CD you may like the neo-psychedelia of the Black Angels' "Phosphene Dream" or Laura Veirs' brilliant folk-pop CD "July Flame" or Kelly Stoltz's CD "To Dreamers"

This is easily one of the best collections of 2010. Pop genius: catchy, smart, tuneful, and stick-in-your-head. Perfect collaboration. I've loved everything Jenny Lewis has done to date. The remaining question is "Just how good is she?" Time will tell...and I cannot wait. Must admit don't know a thing re Jonathan Rice, but this guy obviously is supremely talented as well! get this.

I'll keep it simple: just a great bunch of songs. I had heard of Jenny Lewis but have not bought any of her previous work until now. I'll let the long time fans decide if this album is better than her previous records...but for me, this is a great little album. Like other reviewers "My Pet Snakes, Scissor Runner, and Straight edge of the Blade" are some of my favorites. Great rhythm and harmonies as well as male/female combos that don't get any better. Go buy this CD..... I think I'll be buying some Rilo Kiley records.

I heard the "Big Wave" song on the Sirius satellite channel The Loft and just loved it. Could that be Jenny Lewis? It sounded like a secret collaboration between the Go-Gos and the Pixies and the Ventures and ... who knows. Anyway, Amazon had the whole record for a very fair price and I've had it on the speakers all the time ever since. A great record, poppy and pretty but it bites and stings when you pay attention.

I may be playing a little bit of favoritism here, but being a Rilo Kiley fan already I knew I liked this right away. Nothing on this record is bad, but not everything really stands out either.