Broken Bones - JonnytheFirth

I can't remember when I last looked forward to an album's release as much as this one. From the moment that Jonny Firth first told me about it way back in May I've been waiting to get a listen to it. It was clear from Jonny's enthusiasm that he'd created something special. He's not the sort of guy to oversell things.

Anyway eventually in October it was finally in my hands and I'm pleased to tell you that it is just as good as I hoped. It has been on constant rotation on my car stereo and ghetto blaster for the past few weeks.

The opener 'Just The Way I'm Feeling' is a cracking way to start an album. Its a big exuberant number with horns, piano, hand claps and massed backing vocals. It reminds me of classic early seventies Springsteen. Listen to the lyrics though and you realise there is a heart of darkness to this song.

Next up on a tattoo of drums and organ stabs we are into 'William'. Driven by palm muted guitars this is a storming rockabilly type number. According to Jonny the words, to this one, don't mean anything. I like 'em anyway - there's a kind of ambiguousness about it that reminds me of early Smiths lyrics. This is definitely one of my favourite songs on the album.

If I'm being honest I don't think 'Fly Away' is one of the stronger songs. Jonny wears his influence's on his sleeve on this one (Soledad Brothers, Black Keys, White Stripes). Its a generic blues number right down to the lyrics about the Devil. 

'Wolf.Boy.Cry' on the other hand is an absolute classic. This is an old number that used to be one of Jonny's live staples. There are great raw slabs of guitar driving it. I particularly like the weird sixties sci fi sounds (apparently its Jamie Lockhart playing his fiddle) which are reminiscent of something from an old Joe Meek record. As Jonny points out the vocal choir on the chorus sounds a lot like Queen as well. 

One of the great things about this album is the variety. Case in point is 'Another Number Another Name'. This is a first for me hearing Jonny the acoustic troubadour. To be honest its not one of the best numbers on here though. But its good to see he has this string to his bow.

All the songs on this album are pretty short and so by these standards 'War Song' is an epic. It starts off as a celtic tinged ballad (featuring Irish pipes from Mick Doonan and fiddle from Kieron O'Malley). It then grows into something altogether bigger and poppier. This is a co-write with Jonny's fellow Calder-Delta blues man Ryan Spendlove. It finishes with a folky outro. I could see this one as a Christmas single for some reason.

Next up we are back into the dirty rock'n'roll that is Jonny's trademark. 'Dirty Jokes' is another live staple and is another slightly longer number. The lyric seems to concern leaving somewhere which seems to be a theme common to a few of these songs.

One of the interesting things about this whole project is seeing Jonny moving from his one man band schtick into a full band situation. He has effectively two separate band set ups. The Bastards are a tight two/three piece and the Broken Bones Orchestra are a bigger ensemble. 'Reality Bites' (aka the Motown number) is another big band song. It is soulful with some great brass.

Then we are off into almost country territory. 'No Heroes' sounds like a reminiscence of events from Jonny's local pub. I can imagine Johnny Cash performing this song. This been Jonny though its full of loud electric guitar and played at the sort of speed that would have Mr Cash turning in his grave.

Of course every rock star worth his salt needs a 'lighter in the air' moment. You know what I mean. A slow ballad with a strong sing along chorus. Jonny is no exception and 'Damages' is his 'Hey Jude' moment. Thankfully Jonny knows when to stop so we don't have a five minute drawn out finish. This is one he could milk a bit live though and I can envisage it been ripe for audience participation if he was that way inclined.

If I was to have a critiscm of this album it would be that there are a couple of numbers that are a bit superfluous in my opinion. 'Pitbull Blues' as the name suggests is another blues number. I actually like it better than 'Fly Away' but its competent and well played but a little ordinary in comparison to other songs on the album.

The same goes for 'Boom Bang' which is another of Jonny's rockers. It sounds ok in his live set but like 'Pitbull Blues' its a bit of a let down after 'Damages'.

Thankfully Jonny dusts his acoustic back off for 'Sing for the Miners'. I think this is about his grandparents and is a great downbeat way to finish the album with a super catchy chorus.

I think the perfect sequence for this album would have been to finish it with 'Damages' followed by 'Sing for the Miners'. Still this is a minor critiscm.

Its a been a long wait for Jonny to finally get an album out but its been well worth it. I remember seeing him for the first time back at Escobar way back in 2008. He was raw then but his talent was there. Still I don't think I would have imagined he had this epic in him.