Swedish Grammy winners Johnossi are back with the bands seventh album the aptly titled Mad Gone Wild that's a ride into the bands off kilter world. The album was recorded in Stockholm at Benny Andersons Rixmixningsverket studio and produced by Pelle Gunnerfeldt.
This album is a concept album about the bands character Roscoe who first appeared on the bands Mavericks album. Mad Gone Wild opens with the Jet like stomp of Give Me The Knife that veers off in a few directions at once as they plead to be Given The Knife, not sure if it's for sinister reasons or just that they like Knife play or want some plastic surgery, but they do want to do it together with you apparently at the end of a 4 day bender.
Something = Nothing struts into view like they are marching into a fight, that's a lot of Something for Nothing, as it explodes into violence and despair and back to something like handbags at 10 paces normality among the air raid siren style guitars and palpitating drums.
Yeah Yeah you know what they mean by the urgent amphetamine rush, as they go blazing through the night in search of some action and hoping they don't fall too far on the way.
Koala Before The Storm takes a Joy Division bassline and turns it into an indie pop anthem for Roscoe who is close to the edge teetering before the brink.
Mad Gone Wild takes a repeating tone and keening vocals calling for some salvation or help for a Roscoe whose gone over the edge, at times this goes almost orchestral in a very controlled way with a super detailed mix on this epic song.
Killer (Slowly Fantasize) runs with the passion of lovers is for death my dear theme and marries it to a rapid repeating riff and a deep-seated need to see the ultimate act as the ultimate thrill as the guitars explode in pain and rain shards of noise down on us.
Black Hole is anthemic indie with rather poppy vocals as that Black Hole opens up ready to swallow them as the relationship dissolves in acrimony and despair at their inability to quit his addictions.
A Passenger sees Roscoe out on the ledge again threatening everything, can he get the help he needs or will he just be allowed to fall to the bottom as the guitars decay and decline like his life has.
Wizard Of Os should be a song about Lawrie Cunningham the true Wizard Of The O's, who like Roscoe was a man consumed by his inner demons and habits he just couldn't kick, in anyway nearly as well as he could kick that football. As this instrumental goes on a mazy run down the wing ready to weave by two or three defenders before sending the keeper the wrong way it slows down to an almost full stop ending like they have walked the ball into the net.
The album closes with Screaming a slow calm scream of pain and sorrow as Roscoe seems to have come to the end of the road and hit a brick wall and this feels like one last goodbye, or a final hurrah that we can all sway along too with torches in the air.
Find out more at https://www.johnossi.com/ https://johnossi.lnk.to/MadGoneWild https://www.facebook.com/johnossi
