I’ve never been a huge fan of Jonah’s other bands, and I do know I’m in the minority when I say that. I struggled with Far (although I could see the appeal), New End Original literally had one good song and I just never bothered with Onelinedrawing enough to get over excited about them. But credit where it’s due, because he is a prolific songwriter and clearly a very talented individual. Gratitude is his latest effort and by far the most commercial unit yet. Signed to a major, this is a collection of summery rock tunes that are made for radio – although again they do tend to flatter to deceive at times, often missing out with the crunch chorus that would set this band apart from a stack of others.
I’m a big fan of bands with huge singalong choruses and Gratitude set out to be one of those acts. The anthemic ‘Drive Away’ sets things off in great fashion, hitting all the right notes for me. Ironically it’s a great song to drive to in the sun, as I’ve found out this week. The problem is, many of the songs here attempt to weave their way into your brain on the strength of the singalong hooks and melodies – as per Jimmy Eat World maybe – but on too many occasions on this record the catchy parts just aren’t catchy enough. ‘Last’ sounds like a full band Dashboard Confessional, ‘All In A Row’ has a soft rock feel like a Matchbox 20 or a Goo Goo Dolls, while ‘The Greatest Wonder’ comes acros a bit like U2 or (shudder) Filter – if anyone remembers them. Don’t get me wrong, none of these are bad songs, but there’s just an extra sparkle missing which arguably detracts from their quality slightly.
It’s not so much that Gratitude is a band that takes a drive along a different musical avenue for Jonah Matranga, more that this is a deliberate attempt to write a summery album choc-full of catchy hooks and songs you’d find on the radio. To be fair, every song is pretty good, what lets this album down is the fact there aren’t too many very good songs. It’s all a bit clean and a bit safe at times, but while the recent warm sunny spell continues, this CD can expect to receive some extra time in the car stereo.
Paul