Review Summary: About time.
On my fifth birthday, a family friend had forgotten to buy me a present, resulting in him deciding to donate his copy of
Queen: The Platinum Collection to me. While this may have resulted in one of the most insignificant family-feuds ever, I firmly believe it’s the best gift I have ever received. The greatest hits collection of the legendary band sparked my interest in music, with my love for David Bowie’s feature causing my dad to take me on my first trip to a record store. In the years to come, I would spend a lot of time flipping through CDs and picking a few every time based on album covers, band names or staff recommendations. Around the time of the release of the Dutch indie rock band’s
THX JHN, the band name Johan sparked my interest seeing as my best friend was called Johan. Combined with 'funny' artwork for their record
Pergola, I forced my dad to buy me these albums.
I grew to absolutely adore Johan’s music. Especially those first two records I bought were albums that would be part of my regular listens for years to come, with songs taking on new meanings as time progressed while still holding their nostalgic values. From falling in love with nature when going on holiday to the mountains of Switzerland while hearing the overwhelming beauty of
THX JHN’s ‘Staring At The Sun’ to crying to
Pergola’s ‘Time and Time Again’ when I was a bit older and I finally understood what frontman Jacob de Greeuw’s lyrics meant, Johan’s music has always had a special place in my life.
After releasing their final record
4 and disbanding in 2009, no-one expected the band to return. Johan had been a rather troubled band for a while, besides constant line-up changes, De Greeuw’s depression caused albums to constantly be delayed and made touring extremely difficult for Johan, yet also fuelled some of their best music. However, when the band did announce their comeback earlier this year, interviews revealed that it only was a matter of time. De Greeuw soon realised Johan-music was the only thing he really ‘knew’, and the fact that the band had gained quite a following in their absence only strengthened the likeliness of their return. After announcing some shows,
Pull Up was announced and ‘About Time’ released as the sole single off the new record to acclaim from critics and both old and new fans alike. The chorus of the track shows exactly how Johan feels about their return:
‘it’s about ***ing time’. While this might sound rather cheesy, it simply makes sense. People missed Johan, Johan missed Johan. Besides this, ‘About Time’ capitalises on what made the band’s music so loved: it’s equal parts punchy and dreamy and possesses a unique sense of melancholy due to De Greeuw’s pleasant voice.
Now that
Pull Up has been released, it is extremely clear that it is very much a record for Johan fans. It’s not necessarily built to attract new fans;
Pull Up exists to remind listeners of what made the band great, and most importantly, it's stuffed with songs the group wanted to make. While previous album
4 showed a more adventurous to Johan,
Pull Up is mainly a continuation of the sound displayed on the band’s best albums,
Pergola and
THX JHN. Best described as melancholic, catchy sixties-infused indie rock, the record is an extremely pleasant listen. Songs like ‘Your Face’ and ‘No Problem Next Week’ show the band at their most melancholic, while ‘What a Scene’ and ‘Anyone Got a Clue?’ portray a darker and moodier side. Perhaps the record’s greatest accomplishment is the fact that every song has a unique, distinctive character while the album as a whole remains a very cohesive project.
However, Johan’s most unique attribute is still De Greeuw’s voice. In spite of being a tad nasally, his vocals are extremely nostalgia-inducing. While the band obviously has a lot of nostalgic value for me personally, there is something about the frontman’s voice that simply grabs your attention and reminds you of other, better times. The band has always been at their best when De Greeuw lamented about his dark times, like on
Pergola’s immense closing track ‘Here’. Yet again,
Pull Up displays the vocalist at his most vulnerable. On the magnificent closer ‘Quicksand’ the group seems to apologise directly for their absence by saying
‘I never should have kept you waiting for so long’. While this statement may seem somewhat bland and phoned in, in the context of this record and De Greeuw’s lyricism displayed throughout the band’s discography, it is very refreshing. By contrasting the vocalist’s rather dark words with relatively upbeat music, Johan’s music has always been oddly dynamic, especially considering the band rarely strays from conventional structures.
While
Pull Up is a great album and a very welcome return that will make fans extremely happy, it does become clear that the record is not nearly as fantastic as the band’s peak. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, no song is an instant classic like
Pergola’s ‘Tumble and Fall’. Nevertheless, the album will be an enjoyable listen for most people and considering my strong personal connection to the band's old music have some kind of impact on me. I am already anticipating
Pull Up accompanying future memories in my life and add a whole new layer of nostalgia to the band. While it’s difficult to describe how much this band’s music meant and still means to me, I know that Jphan is one of the bands that largely shaped my taste in music and therefore my personality. Being able to listen to a new album by my favourite local band feels weird, like something that was never supposed to happen, but also incredibly familiar and simply ‘good’.
When Johan played my insignificant town about ten years ago, I wasn’t allowed to go: smoking was still allowed in the venue and hearing protection wasn’t exactly something casual concert-goers like my parents were aware of. In may, I will finally get to see the band live, after more than a decade of growing up to Johan’s music. The worn-out CD-cases have pretty much seen my entire spectrum of emotions, and the sold-out Amsterdam venue undoubtedly will too. Due to a lousy family friend, an old childhood friend and a ***ing garden gnome on an album cover, Johan’s music has become a massive part of my life. That’s weird.
