JOHNNY ILL Congratulations EP

Johnny Ill's songs are for the everyman. Not in some blustery and blue-collar anthem kinda way though. More like of the finding fascination and poetry in the mundane day to day sort.

His latest release (the first from him in a couple of years as well as the first release done with his most recent gang of musical partners in crime), Congratulations,  is full of such moments. "Hamtramck Island" whose lyrics seem like the recapping of a day walking around the Detroit borough the song is named after has a bit of a Jonathan Richman vibe to it. It's as jangling as some Modern Lovers songs could be but it's also a bit more jittery and rattled. The same sort of thing, but a little more sparse in its accompaniment, can be said about "Third & Blaine."

While such off-centered and noisy pop proves to be a delight here, the songs stretch a bit beyond that. "One Year Plan" has  Mark E. Smith squigglings all over it and "Birds" resembles the first couple A Certain Ratio singles if they grew up playing in midwest basements stocked with plenty of Stroh's. 

Get sick at Johnny Ill's Facebook page.

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