jenny hearts johnny and vice versa

does that not sound like it would be amazing carved onto a desk in your high school health class? just about. it rolls off the tongue like I used to think CHRISTOPHER and JENNIFER did (oh, to be three again).

this is a real update from my Swedish hostel. I just took a cold shower and survived a Saved By the Bell influenced nightmare. yes, my friends, like the M&M commericial: THEY DO EXIST.

anyway, before I left the USA, I picked up this album. and I have not listened to much music on my trip other than the sounds of Lykke Li, Robyn, Camille and Edith Piaf, but I have been forming an opinion on the long-awaited collaboration between the real life couple for a while. I feel comfortable in letting that opinion go now.

all in all, it is a cute album. it is a sweet album. it´s fun, you want to pinch it by the cheeks. not in a creepy way that would make the recipient feel gross afterwards, but in a good way, like something not so creepy.

Jenny and Johnny are in looooove, but not overly so. what do I mean? I mean this is not a collaboration that is obnoxious and gooey in sentiment. rather, it is the sounds of two people that are just very comfortable with each other. is that not what love is? do not ask me by the way. I WOULD NOT KNOW.

the album is called I AM HAVING FUN NOW which is just about right. the listener has fun in the moment but it is nothing that will change the course of your life or make you grab random people on streetcorners and be like THIS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE (hai Garden State).

it is recapturing a little bit of your youth. it is the chance to be 17 again, but with more wisdom and the fact that you will wake up tomorrow with non-working genitals, a mortgage and grey hair.

oddly enough, the songs go back and forth between light and dark subject matter, spiritual imagery and just plain nonsense. at times confusing, but it makes for good pop music.

to be honest though, a lot of the songs are forgettable. they please when they are heard but when I try to recall them it brings me a lot of difficulty. so the exceptions to this are "Slavedriver," "Scissor Runner" and "Big Wave." "Animal," which ventures off in an unexpected philosophical route, is also worth a few listens, for sure. and the last two songs mentioned before do make it clear- J and J heart each other like Oprah and cake!

one of the biggest faults of the album is easily the presence of J. Rice, who is a talent in his own right, but has been sliding downhill ever since his relationship with Miss Legs and Bangs, Jenny Lewis. I say this as a big fan of his first album, which I thought was excellent. then I heard the rest of his stuff. meh? how do I describe, wannabe Bob Dylan stuff that aims too high. he has a good voice and obviously has talent, but I do not know if the fact he is in a relationship with the hands-down hottest woman in indie rock has affected his level of ambition or blindslided him. but who knows, he does wake up her, next to all, and I wake up next to my passport.

but Lewis takes a backseat to Rice on the album and I think that is what hurts it, because Lewis is probably a littttle more talented than her boyfriend. he often leads vocal duties and comes out the dominant player. the listener, who is dreaming of taking Jenny Lewis to Applebee´s and then prom, is left to wonder WHATTTTTTT.

with that being said, indulge in I´m Having Fun Now before you wake up cranky, loveless and menopausal. the dream is over. I am looking at you, Cathy Guisewite.

B+
6.4 on the arbituary Pitchfork-richter-Kemp scale