The Skygreen Leopards Return With Gorgeous Johnny LP, Offer Free Album Cut
Know this: The Skygreen Leopards are alive and well. And core members Donovan Quinn and Glenn Donaldson still wander the magical streets of a San Francisco that we regular folk will never know. Now, the band has delivered Gorgeous Johnny (released July 21), a shimmering, sunny record for those who choose to dwell in the soft shadows and move by the moonlight.
“Gorgeous” Johnny was a fringe member of the Skygreen Leopards in the group’s early days; he didn’t really play anything but neither could anyone else. Described by most as a phony and a self-confessed dandy, the band kept him around for his undeniable fashion sense. He would often quote Coco Chanel’s views on Modernism and affected a British accent, though he was from Orange County. This was a huge influence on the Donaldson/Quinn songwriting team. Eventually he moved to the South of France and no one’s heard from him since, except for a postcard that read: I’M STILL IN THE VAN! MUCH LOVE, JOHNNY. Anyway, his name’s not really Johnny – that’s just a dick joke.
It’s been 8 years since the first SGL’s record was released. Since then, the boys have maintained their singular aesthetic while managing to dabble with faux-folk, avant garde pop, reverb-drenched lo-fi psychedelia, plastic country and blurry ballads. This latest effort finds them in collaborating with Jason Quever (Papercuts) to create a melancholy world with itinerant dandies, urban streets, suburban teens and more girls’ names than I care to count, all set to melodic shuffles featuring harmonies, frail pianos and romantic guitars. First mp3 “Dixie Cups In the Dead Grass” feels like the 4th of July during a mid-summer drought — and then, the first rainstorm in weeks finally breaks loose on your backyard soiree.
