Keeping Some Dark Secrets

Above is the bottom half of the cover art for the forthcoming Johnny Foreigner single for “Our Bipolar Friends” that we mentioned last week (see below). The release date is March 3, not March 5 as we wrote previously. The B-side will be the song “The Houseparty Scene Is Killing You,” which you would have thought the band might have saved for the flip of a single for “This Band Is Killing Us.” Through the miracle of technology and the kindness of cool people, we’ve already heard the single (as well as a radio session track that will blow up the hipper parts of the Internet when it gets out there; we’ll hold our tongues for now) and it is huge. The single version of “Our Bipolar Friends” has fairly different vocals from bassist Kelly than the demo from last spring, and there are some cool new guitar parts and gang vocals to boot. The mix touts broader separation of the instruments, and none of the energy of the earlier version is lost. The real excitement, of course, is the b-side, which we hadn’t heard before (unless they played it during the show in New York? Our memory is fuzzy). “The Houseparty Scene Is Killing You” is awesome, and not just because the band namechecks itself in the lyrics (we are a big fan of this; one day we need to do a post on things such as that which earn big points from us). It’s got that characteristic drunk-but-still-standing-up feel, although the shuffling guitar and slightly tempered dynamics result in a mellower attack. Both “Houseparty” and the radio session highlight a gear that Johnny Foreigner hasn’t displayed often beyond a handful of demos, and the fact that the trio has yet another trick up its sleeve will pleasantly surprise many. Now wait until March.

Filed under: Johnny Foreigner by Jay