Jonny Cola and The A-Grades

Spitfire is the aptly named second album of London-based rabble-rousers Jonny Cola & The A-Grades. With their cranked up mix of glam-pop and edgy pop-rock, here’s one band destined to kiss the stratosphere!

After a highly successful PledgeMusic campaign earlier this year – following frontman Jonny Cola’s rocky road to recovery after a life-saving kidney transplant – the second album no doubt will further cement the band’s reputation as one of the most promising and talented bands around. It bears nods to the classics of the genre but does so in a refreshing and unique style.

On opening track ‘In The Woods’ it’s the punchy beat – held together by an overall juggernaut intensity - that sets the tone and provides a taste of the stuff The A-Grades are made off.
Echoes of Adam Ant style post-punk pop, Psychedelic Furs style harmonies, and surf rock turn ‘Tropical Beach’ into an instant winner. One will find it hard not to hum along to.

Yours truly already reviewed ‘Straight To Video’ upon its release earlier this year, so let’s skip forward to ‘Rain Stopped Play’. This one mercilessly blasts through its relatively short playtime and cranks up the instruments to the max. There’s still plenty of melody to be heard, yet the sharpness and vocal dynamics of the track are reminiscent of early Stooges say.

Now, I really dig ‘Blow Up’ big time… not just the Antonioni film, but we’re talking the next track on this album. It’s pure 70’s glam rock heaven, albeit given a refreshing 21st century twist. The ghost of Bolan riffs through it, flavoured with sprinkles of Bowie’s ‘Ziggy’ and Mott The Hoople. I see countless rainbow-colored spotlights playing havoc with my imagination.
It’s a real textured arrangement and Jonny’s exquisite harmonies never fade into the background even when hooks and groove seem to take over. There’s a full-on “gimme danger little stranger” vibe protruding, which can only be good thing given the countless contemporary ‘rock bands’ who wouldn’t know a darn about the dangerous ways of rock ‘n’ roll spirit! Of course, in Jonny’s case the word danger takes on a whole different meaning, thanks to his donor kidney!

It’s riffs a-plenty on ‘Going Over’, gradually building up into something almost pompous (but not pretentious). A mid-paced composition, the song piles on complicated harmonies / backing vocals in spades, proof just how well Jonny and his band perform their craft.
‘Semaphore’ follows in a similar vein – big time boastful, but with more pace breaks. At times it almost feels like a symphony, laced with a backing chorus that occasionally borders on heaviness but is balanced courtesy of forceful guitar riffs.

Now, if you think you’ve heard it all then you haven’t heard a thing yet, trust me! The absolute piece de resistance is track 8, titled ‘Sunset/Sunrise’. An epic of sorts, it gives the impression of having been recorded between sunset and sunrise. Probably was. Starting out with strings and piano, we listen to the melancholic lament, “Wedding bells can burn in hell, dismembered roses smell much sweeter.” Say no more! Especially coming from someone who recently got married to his kidney donor (and talented artist in her own right) Heidi Heelz. However, I take it the song was penned way before Jonny’s recent wedding, further emphasized by that other revealing line, “Gina G, you sucked the life out of me!” Strings and piano prevail while Jonny delivers his lyrics with pathos. Halfway through, the tempo is on the up – only to be brought to an abrupt halt with spoken words: “Suddenly the noise stopped. Around me in the abandoned graveyard nothing stirred…” Wow! It’s a segment that does Poe proud. Our protagonist then sets his eyes onto one focus point in the horizon, cue for sunsets and big time symphony show-offs. Utterly brilliant - it’s an artistic vision and ambition eclipsed only by works such Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Before the final sunset, we get another segment dominated by frantic riffs, soon after though the track ends. If you want to listen to some magic, then dive into ‘Sunset/Sunrise’!

One really could do with a breather after such sonic overdose, but we don’t get it. The last chords of the aforementioned track have barely faded when next song ‘Wronghead’ kicks in. Strong Bowie influences can be heard here, going splendidly hand in hand with a tale of disappointing dates and rides on over-ground trains.

Final track ‘Out Of The Woods’ is a slow-paced affair, musically gliding somewhere between Cockney Rebel and Jarvis Cocker/Suede camps. Once again, Jonny’s mercurial vocal expression shines brighter than bright here, while the accompanying piano adds a touch of the dramatic.

With the exception of ‘Straight To Video’, the album has been produced by Jez Leather (who, by the way, is a member of Jonny’s band The A-Grades.) While we’re at it, the remaining A-Grades are Mauro Venegas (guitar), Simon Drowner (bass), and Marco-Testa-Ryan (drums) – each and every one of them a bright young star in the rock firmament.

‘Spitfire’ is an album nothing short of a bag full of wicked surprises – effortlessly combining elegance with sleaze and above all, a fresh breeze of much needed musical originality!