Album Reviews

Album Review: The John Henrys – Sweet As The Grain (9LB Records)

By | Published on Monday 1 December 2008

The John Henrys

Like the American folk hero The John Henry’s have named themselves after, their debut album ‘Sweet As The Grain’ has songs on it that have huge ideas behind them. However, after twelve songs the concept of old school storytelling mixed with popular folk and country music seems to wear thin. The songs have brilliant melodies and the structure for each is quite simple giving the intricate lyrical detail, but there just isn’t enough substance in lead vocalist, Rey Sabatin Jr’s voice (although, he does have the coolest name I’ve heard in a while). Because of Sabatin Jr’s sometimes weak vocals, some of the songs come off like bad pop songs, rather than brilliantly-written folk-country tunes, and sound like filler when compared to some of the truly great tracks on the album. Leaving this aside, there are some absolute gems here, with three highlights appearing from tracks four to six. ‘Ain’t Gonna Drink No More’ is a typical country drinkin’ song about the troubles experienced by a well versed drinker and is a perfect party song. ‘Thought Yourself Lucky’ is easily the stand out track on the album. The main riff is a heavy use electric guitar which complements the lyrics perfectly. Here, Sabatin Jr’s vocals are anything but weak, sounding like a gruff Paul McCartney. A promising debut release from this Ontario-based band. Although, again like their namesake, the album seems to die later on after trying too hard. GM

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