Elly Roberts reviews
Skygreen Leopards: Gorgeous Johnny
Distributed by
Cosmos Recordings
- Released: October 2009
- Rating: 8/10
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California dreaming.
Stumbling across a new band (well, to me anyway) still remains a thrill. I’ve never heard of the Skygreen Leopard before, so they come as a welcomed addition to my collection.
Anyway, the story goes something like this. A former (fringe) member ‘Gorgeous’ Johnny was a phoney and self-confessed dandy who couldn’t play anything, but according to sources, neither could the band, which, listen to this album is hard to believe.
The Skygreen Leopards kept Johnny around purely for his fashion statements.
As it happens they needn’t have worried about this impostor because since their debut album eight years ago they’ve carved out a niche by writing exquisite songs embracing faux-folk, avant garde pop, reverb-drenched lo-fi psychedelia, plastic country and blurry ballads.
The Californian duo – Donovan Quinn and Glenn Donaldson – have a knack of rolling out cute tunes and this time they’ve unusually gone for a concept album about their so-called impostor. He must have been some character to devote an entire album to him.
As with many Californian bands, the shadow of Crosby Stills Nash and Young hangs over them.
These well baked tunes hark back to a time when bands flourished on harmonies and melodies.
Setting the scene, a Byrds-like jangly guitar props-up instrumental Johnny’s Theme accompanied by a nifty beat and Hammond-ish organ.
Acoustic sweeps with piano provide the bed for Quinn’s fragile and tender vocals on the sunshine-stoner lo-fi ballad Margery.
Dixie Cups..could be The Kinks from circa 1970 with Quinn’s voice taking on a definite Ray Davies tonal warble. This has all the hallmarks for a single in the UK and Europe.
For SGL’s et al, Margery turns up again on the sparsest song here, a track that has their past tendencies to go into off-the-cuff mode, with the alt-folk template of say Devendra Banhart.
A similar Kinks mood prevails throughout the beefy Goodnight Anna while Quinn jollies along (in an early Marc Bolan take) to some strident edgy drumming and delicious harmonies hovering in the background.
Massive chord slabs and a lazy thumping beat heralds the title track which could be the Rolling Stones from the mid-60s.
It’s back to the CSN&Y influenced Inland Tale with massive dollops of La La La and that finely tuned jangly guitar texturising this happy-go-lucky tune.
When TSL play it simple, like If Our Love Fails they’re simply awesome. This beat heavy track has plenty of hooks –a stunning melody, fab harmonies, making it their strongest and most memorable song.
The verdict - Groovy.
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
