Zap

Review by Darren Gawle

I'm glad that finally there's a proper songwriting ethic taking hold of music these days, after years of bands using pure amplified power to cover up their inability to come up with a decent melody. Not that that's always a bad thing, but I'll choose Sugar over I Mother Earth any day.

Johnny Millennium are adept enough at the guitar-pop game to be a good band; the problem is that there are enough better bands around locally (e.g. Pluto, 500 & Crave, the Roswells) to steal their thunder. J.M.'s first full-length release, Zap, is another case of 'good, but not good enough.' "Dying to Meet You" and "Ripple Effect" show that, when they are up to it, J.M. can compete in the ever-growing guitar-pop market, but generally the overt attention-grabbing hooks are few and far between. Good riffs, yet at the end of the disc you're hard pressed to remember exactly how the songs went.

But hey, the band's only a couple of years old, and not everyone can be Guided by Voices on their first album. See you next time...

Artist Contact Info: 4613 W. 6^th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6R 1V6, jasons@unixg.ubc.ca