SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MODERN WOMAN – JOHNNY’S DREAMWORLD

MODERN WOMAN
JOHNNY’S DREAMWORLD
ONE LITTLE INDEPENDENT RECORDS

Johnny’s Dreamworld, the debut album from English alt-rock band Modern Woman, isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a screeching, squealing, whirling hurricane of sounds and emotions that is both raw and theatrical in its sensibility. Comprised of lead singer and primary songwriter Sophie Harris, violinist/composer David Denyer, drummer Adam Blackhurst and bassist/sax player Juan Brint-Gutiérrez, the group has a distinct post-punk sound with a dark Ren-faire flair that is carried by Harris’s acrobatic and complex vocal stylings.

The opening track, which the album is named after, sets the album off on a good start, with a high-tempo cymbal-heavy rhythm section that sounds like the kind of march you’d hear in an evil circus. But it’s the second track, “Neptune Girl,” that really establishes the musical identity of the album. It’s a mongrel of a song, with a bouncy guitar riff that feels almost something from the B-52s, but Harris yelps and whispers all over the track in a Bjorkian fashion, keeping the listener guessing every second.

“Offerings” is a darker song that feels like a howl in the wind, a cry for what could have been and a lament for what is. Harris’s vocals dominate the track while an understated hi-hat combo from Blackhurst can be heard faintly in the background.

“Killing a Dog” is another strong track, with a choppy tempo and cryptic lyrics like “never thought I’d have to do it” and “took the backroads.” The song has a mysterious, somewhat conspiratorial tone.

“Daniel” is a spooky and spiritual number that begins with some ominous strings and finger-picking, and watery imagery in the lyrics that call to mind John Everett Millais’s famous painting of Hamlet’s Ophelia singing to herself as she drowns in the river.

There are other great tracks too, like the quirky Kate Bush-influenced “Fork/Heart” with its punctuating scratch string section, and the piano-driven choral ballad “The Garden.” But the best of the bunch is the lead single “Dashboard Mary.” It has everything that makes the other songs great smashed into one great track. It’s dark, with a driving, pulsating rhythm, haunting vocals, and lyrics that mix references to Wordsworth’s “Daffodils,” with hints at one-night affairs and child abandonment.

Modern Woman is a band with a clear sensibility and a keen aptitude for creating interesting narratives. While some may not be able to follow the way the band leaps around emotionally and musically, this album will find an audience with anyone who wishes to feel as though they’re being haunted by the ghost of a very well-read Englishwoman.

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