After his band
Two Wounded Birds split up in late 2011,
Johnny Danger started playing guitar with
the Drums, moved to N.Y.C., and changed his name to
Johnny Aries. His debut album under that name,
Unbloomed, doesn't stray too far from the gloomy, rain-soaked-streets sound he created with
Two Wounded Birds. If anything it's rather more gloomy when
Aries is down, and shinier when he's smiling through the tears. The album serves as a farewell to his old band, his relationship, and his home country, bathed in melancholy nostalgia and regrets.
Aries' evocative vocals wring every last emotion out of the soaring melodies, his guitars twang and twist, and the sound takes a detour from his old band's black-and-white re-creation of rockabilly
Phil Spector in favor of a wider sonic palette that ropes in many '80s colors. Some of the tracks, like the rollicking "This Grave Is My Bed Tonight" and "To Be Desired" come close to
TWB's formula, but with an extra injection of
the Smiths in their DNA. Elsewhere,
Aries channels sophisti-pop à la
Prefab Sprout ("Great Expectations") or
Aztec Camera ("I'm a Dreamer"), strips down the arrangements to bare essentials (as on "You Belong to Me," which builds some serious feelings out of
Aries' plaintive emoting, a gently strummed acoustic guitar, some organ swells, and
Duane Eddy-like lead guitar) and comes up with the kind of aching ballad one might expect to hear over a heartache montage in an '80s teen movie. Taken as a whole, the album is an impressive slice of backwards-looking modern pop that's distinguished by both
Aries' skill at creating atmosphere and his sure-handed guitar playing. While it will always be a shame the
Two Wounded Birds didn't get a chance to make more records, the sting will fade quickly if
Aries keeps making music as rich and emotional as
Unbloomed.