Johan is a fitting name. It sounds somewhat exotic, in a Heinekan kind of way. The "J" is pronounced like a "Y." But in reality, it just means "John," the most common name in the western world. Johan play power- pop, the most common rock of the western world. Trace elements of scrappy distortion, awkward chords, echo effects, screee-ing solos and the like give Johan just enough style that they develop a little character. But this isn't a fully- developed Tennessee Williams- type character. This is more like better- than- average- summer- blockbuster character, an amalgamation of instantly recognizable physical traits, cliches, established can't- misses, and borrowed parts.

"Payment" directly lifts the riff from Pavement's "Silence Kid," perhaps an homage due to the homophonic nature of "payment" and "pavement." Sure, that's cute and all, but I can just go listen to Pavement. It manages to put a smile on your face, though, and it's consistantly good, well seasoned, and expertly prepared. The hooks all stick, the barbs all catch, but the lyrics are banal. Unless you're a priest to the religion of powerpop, it all just cloys.

-Brent DiCrescenzo