Brief even by EP standards, Johnny Cummings’ debut disc
\nCopesetic<\/i> is a challenge to review, clocking in as it does
\nat four songs and just over 15 minutes. The good news is, I didn’t
\nmind at all hearing these songs several times in a row.<\/p>\n
The diversity of this quartet of tracks makes it difficult to
\nslap a simple label on them, but you could call it alt-rock for
\nover-thinkers. Heavier than Fountains of Wayne, deeper than
\nNickelback, more esoteric than Gin Blossoms, Johnny Cummings is an
\nintriguing mix of ego and id, introspective intelligence and
\nchord-crunching rock.<\/p>\n
He starts off heavy with the bludgeoning, almost metallic
\nopening to “Suffocate Me,” slamming home a complex sequence of
\nriffs that reminded me of Dream Theater’s John Petrucci. The lyrics
\nare a step above what you might expect from the throbbing music,
\nthough — the venting of a damaged soul trapped in a
\nself-destructive relationship. And even at his angriest, Cummings’
\nvocals are crisp and clear.<\/p>\n
Next up (sorry, with four tracks it’s tough not go one-by-one)
\nis the more mid-tempo and melodic “Too Far,” whose once-again
\nintrospective lyric unfolds over solid riffing from Cummings. The
\ncut has a nice full sound that belies the fact that Cummings plays
\nmost of the instruments (guitar, bass, piano), with assistance only
\nfrom drummer Joe Myers and occasional rhythm guitarist Matt
\nQuistorf.<\/p>\n
“Partial” starts out as a quiet piano number, but quickly builds
\ninto more of a power ballad, one which I’d compare to matchbox
\ntwenty, but in a good way — as in, strong vocal arrangement, solid
\ndynamics and appealing production.<\/p>\n
Finishing up is my favorite track here, “Ready To Go.” I am
\nadmittedly somewhat of a Gin Blossoms fanatic, and right here you
\ncan find all the reasons why: fat, jangly, propulsive guitar lines
\nover a steady rock beat, superb harmonies and a sing-along chorus.
\nCummings even sounds like Robin Wilson in places on this very
\nappealing track.<\/p>\n
Four tracks barely qualifies as an appetizer, but I’m ready
\nright now to sign on for the main course. Johnny Cummings serves up
\ntasty rock and roll that will have you asking for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":26650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6994],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-37900","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-johnny-cummings","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37900"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}