Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now
- Written by Rosie Duffield
Sonny and Cher. PJ and Duncan. Elton and Kiki. Some duos are just meant to be, and Jenny and Johnny are one such couple. Despite having worked together for some time, this is their first official effort as a twosome. Johnny (Jonathan Rice) started off by providing backing guitar for Jenny (Jenny Lewis) before being promoted to lover and co-showman.
Like in every relationship (cough), Jenny seems to take the reins; providing lead vocals on the majority of the songs on We’re Having Fun Now – and well, her name is first. Johnny, however, has just as nice a voice, singing the lead on album opener ‘Scissor Runner’ and ‘Animal’, as well as a couple of others. Their sound is rather laid back; generally, I'm Having Fun Now is a collection of songs that drift along happily, guitars strumming while the duo provide rather angelic harmonies for each other.
It’s not all sweetness and light, though. ‘Big Wave’ – on the face of it a rather upbeat song – describes the economic crash, whilst others also have less than cheery lyrics amongst them. ‘My Pet Snake’ for example, where the duo have a lover’s tiff: “Sleeping in a twin bed with a serpent by your side/ (Are you trying to compete with me?)/Talk a lot of shit but you never start a fight/ (Fantasize about killing me)/God it makes me queasy when you smile/ (Through your jealousy)”
As with all albums, there are always a few songs that let the side down. ‘Just Like Zeus’ and ‘Straight Edge Of The Blade’ drag compared to other tracks, whilst ‘New York Cartoon’ is full of ridiculous imagery that jars against its musical backdrop. Still, Jenny and Johnny are apparently having fun now, so it’s only to be expected that their lyrics are occasionally silly. None more than ‘Committed’, the breezy note on which to end this whimsical jaunt, which includes possibly the best lyric of the entire album: “For God and for country/For Michael Jackson’s monkey”.
I’m Having Fun Now sums up how most of us are feeling at the moment: fairly cheerful on the outside, with a bit of discontent struggling away inside – giving commentary on love, economical crises and religion. Those moments of uncertainty are outweighed by the fun ones though - and this album is certainly a good soundtrack with which to accompany them.