mariteaux

II by Jonathan Ian

Jonathan Ian operates at one speed: pissed off. Well, not exactly, he's got two; depressed is another. Of course, this lack of color is nothing new for the creator of the notoriously-one note Foamy the Squirrel, but it does get tiresome. Whether it's the pointless, 23 second "Intro" track (segues into "Misery", which has its own instrumental intro anyway) or the tuneless "My Body", II plays like a damp squib and sounds like one too.

Worse yet, Jonathan comes off like he's rewriting his songs over and over much of the time. "Could You Let Me" is a prime example, playing like a paler "Exist" and borrowing lyrics from "Inconsequential", both from I. It's a shame, really, given that some of Jonathan's best material is on here. "We All Hate You Here" is proper acoustic punk, "Bunch of Nothing" is delightfully disorienting, "None The Less" is tightly wound jealousy with some great metaphors, and "Novelty" could easily be directed at Jonathan now, most likely in his 40s and desperately needing a new wall to wail at.

II

Essential: "We All Hate You Here", "Bunch of Nothing", "None The Less"
Quintessential: "Misery"
Non-essential: "Could You Let Me"

Recommended if: You pick through the best bits of I and II and just make a playlist of them.
Rating: Eh
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