Johnny Society's Kenny Siegal subscribes to the "more is more" school 
of songwriting. His songs twist and turn at odd and unexpected angles, 
conflating styles and eras, but often creating something coherent and stirring. 
on their fourth album, Life Behind the 21st Century Wall, the New York quartet 
gravitates to swampy blues, elastic honky tonk, slinky blue-eyed soul and 
pounding rock, sometimes within the space of a song. Case in point: 
"Dirty Water," which begins with a few syncopated heavy blues guitar chords 
behind Siegal singing, "Kick me if you mean it / Kiss me if you could stomach 
it / I'd still run away with you," gets interrupted by a chorus worthy of some 
happy-go-lucky white-bread 60s band like the Lovin' Spoonful, then shifts 
to a swinging, bouncy middle-eight before cycling back again. The song is 
as gritty as the Standells' classic nugget of the same name, and it's nearly 
as catchy. Although Siegal's overwrought vocals (he tends to slip from a soft 
falsetto whisper to a histrionic scream) derail some of the sparser tunes, he 
easily pulls off the Faces-like stomp of "Popular Man," the drunken barroom 
singalong "Get Off My Farm" and the darkly humorous blue-eyed soul of 
"21st Century Wall." Johnny Society's Life is full of surprises, not the least of 
which is that it holds together well.
 -Steve Klinge