The Grouchy Gaijin's Thoughts on Music and Such

The other day I got an email from Jonny Mernagh asking me to give a listen to his album The Hour Glass.

Somewhere along the line, the British developed a true soulful sound of their own.

This brings me to Jonny Mernagh.  His music is SOULFUL.  Let me explain, I don't mean soulful in the sense of Sly and the Family Stone and it certainly isn't soulful like Zeppelin or the Stones.  I mean soulful in the sense that I feel the emotion in his songs.

As a general rule, I really dislike the young, deep thinking sensitive poet brand of music, however, (and this is a big however) in this case it works.

Let me say that again - it works.  It works because he is a good player and the listener gets the feeling that this is what this guy is about.

I didn't have the feeling that he was following a formula or writing to sell to a particular demographic.

After listening to this album many times, I've come away with the feeling that Jonny just simply plays what he feels - no less and no more.  If you dig it, he's happy and if you don't well bummer because this is what he does.

I had the same feeling when I heard Bruce Hornsby.  I can remember a lot of my buddies laughing when I said that I like his music, but I could feel what Hornsby was doing.  I can feel what Jonny is doing.

One of the best songs on the album is the title track The Hour Glass.  The music is, well, pretty and the vocals are melodic yet intense.

For some reason I want to give my three year old twins a hug when I listen to this song. (Good God, that reads schmaltzy doesn't it?)

So what is the bottom line?  If you like music that is well played, well sung and filled with the convincing emotion of one man's experience then you will probably enjoy this album.  I did (and I'm somewhat surprised that I did).

Grouch rating 3.5 scowls out of 5.