ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN – A Life Diagrammatic (Brace Yourself/Pets Care Records)
JOHN are a post-punk powerhouse of a duo from South London who make splendidly raucous noise-rock, and this is their fourth album.
Drummer/vocalist John Newton and guitarist Johnny Healey’s first two albums made them underground favourites before 2021’s third, Nocturnal Manoeuvres, just missed the Top 75.
This latest opus reaffirms their thoroughly-well-earned status as an uncompromising musical force, while showing a new side to their talents – creating soundscapes rather than just straight-up noise.
A Life Diagrammatic is as punishingly intense as ever in many places, yet at others veers off into cinematic territory, showing they’re far from one-trick ponies.
Their trademark distorted guitar and propulsive beats are present and correct, as are the guttural vocals, but there’s light among the shade this time, which makes them not quite so exhausting to listen to.
Don’t get the idea they’ve gone soft though: opener At Peacehaven, with its echo-drenched riffs, pummelling drums and abrasive vocals, lays that idea to rest immediately.
The second track, Media Res, is where you realise this isn’t JOHN by numbers. Featuring a scratchy monologue from actor Simon Pegg which sounds like it’s delivered from space, it’s a big departure from what we’ve come to expect.
Punk crescendo
Experimental moments like this aside, A Life Diagrammatic has plenty of intensity, but combines punchy rhythms and eruptions of energy with more considered moments of restraint (often within the same song).
Côte d’adur, for example, is sparse in places, furious in others, while A Submersible starts quietly, only to ramp up and become more distorted as it builds to an explosive punk crescendo.
The single Service Stationed is propelled by some typically strident drums, and infectious, shimmering hooks, and a refrain urging us to “keep on keeping on“, giving a feeling of a band restless to get to wherever they’re heading next.
Radio-friendly lead single Trauma Mosaic, released in April, sees Healey singing in his normal voice at first, with the more familiar gruffness creeping in as the track progresses.
There’s another guest on standout track Riddley Scott Walker, this time ex-Magazine bass player Barry Adamson, and you get the feeling JOHN will love his endorsement of their coruscating take on post-punk.
Almost before you know it we’re at the end, and closing track The Common Cold is a dystopian-sounding masterpiece which could be from a post-apocalyptic Hollywood blockbuster.
It shows JOHN have lost none of their knack of creating massive-sounding songs which draw you in and demand to be listened to, even if you have no idea what they’re about. As Healey himself says, “we’re not just a rock band. There’s more to it than that.“ 8/10.
