asks the Room to Please Stop Spinning

Album Review

"Pop music" has increasingly become a dirty phrase of sorts among rock fans in the early 21st century, which is understandable: the majority of pop music is either saccharine-sweet or slicked up beyond comprehension. But pop music wasn't always like this — remember the good ol' days of Elvis Costello and Tom Petty? Johnny Action Figure certainly do, as evidenced by their sophomore release, the 2006 seven-track EP Asks the Room to Please Stop Spinning. The unmistakable jingle jangle of guitars kicks off the album-opener "Lose Our Face," while the group gently treads on emo territory with such selections as "(This is How I Look) When I Laugh at Death," and introduces Green Day-like power chords to the proceedings on "Francis." Johnny Action Figure is one of the few rock acts of the early 21st century that manages to combine pop sensibilities from yesterday without coming off retro at all. And the quartet deserves a pat on the back for issuing an album that sounds like a band playing live in a room together — something that's sadly become an anomaly in the modern day pop world.