Gay for Johnny Depp: What Doesn’t Kill You, Eventually Kills You

[9 March 2011]

By Chris Colgan

Experimental noise rock and metal require a degree of finesse to pull off properly. Unsane has been doing it right for a long time, and Folly was one of the best before the band split. Gay for Johnny Depp, often shortened to GFJD, is clearly trying to create music similar to both of those groups. The effort is definitely there on sophomore album What Doesn’t Kill You, Eventually Kills You. The music is appropriately loud and strange, and lead vocalist Marty Leopard manages to sound like Folly’s Jon Tummillo at some points. However, GFJD lacks the charisma of Folly, instead coming off as just having thrown together the music haphazardly. Band members seem to have forced the random and suddenly-changing nature of the music into place, instead of allowing it to form naturally. That aspect of GFJD’s sound prevents the group from achieving excellence, forcing this album into mediocrity.

Published at: