Jonny

Despite the fact that Jonny are a partnership between Euros Childs (Gorky's Zygotic Mynci) and Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub, it quickly becomes apparent that the former is the dominant one on their debut album. And that translates into more of Gorky's quirkiness and less of the Fannies' glorious melodies, although Jonny is rather good when they find the balance between the two. The duo cover a lot of ground, from the glam stomp of "Goldmine" to the gentle pop of "Circling the Sun" and the silliness of "Bread." They rely on their usual tricks of lovely harmonies and pop hooks to keep things moving along at a brisk pace, and things rarely drag. The only misstep is "Cave Dance," which is stretched out for an extra eight minutes of unnecessary, repetitive weirdness, but the album is still less than it should be considering the talent involved. Jonny is a pleasant, inconsequential diversion, but if the twosome stick around for another record, there needs to be a lot more meat on the bones.