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 | OnelinedrawingThe Volunteers2004 Jade Tree 
  Review by: Scott See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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Published on May 25th 2004
Onelinedrawing is a tricky beast. It's basically one guy, Jonah Matranga. His popularity, while not on the level of similarly-minded semi-acoustic troubadours, grows with each passing day and each MP3 passed through instant message. Kids go to Onelinedrawing shows for the experience of participation - Jonah stops mid-song to explain things, combats and even seems to encourage heckling, and always allows his little R2D2 to make an appearance to make every member of the audience feel special. Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
nail on the head. dude huffs mad non-spontaneous dork and he's a pussy. now when i heard this cd i wanted to take a gun to my head b/c it is so depressing, i mean i was in a happy mood before i listen to it but then when i put it on it went all down hill from there your comment about him using a crowd's voice on "over it" to ensure a few 100 copies sold, you know that's the most absurd accusation ever, right? there is absolutely no backing for that. just one example of the completely absurd and unnecesary things said in this review. a pure character attack with no real substance to it. I think hes a swell guy! He does a lot more then bitch about other people on a stupid punk site all day to a bunch of 14 year olds. Im sure someone could pick out all your lousy flaws you've got, and make you look a dumbass. Dumbass. why review the person, or his live performance when it should be about the album. I think you are way off base on this one: this score is for jonah. i don't know him personally, but i have conversed with him a couple of times. he sang his own happy birthday song for my friend at a show last year-and we didn't have to pay him. when the venue closed, he took a pocket-sized amp outside and played some cool tunes. he did this pseudo jeremy engik [sp] thing. sure, his sets do seem similar, but you could say that about most bands. look at what rancid plays, nofx, dashboard confessional, the get up kids, and mainstream pop acts. who besides the grateful dead had a unique setlist every night? Scott loses. Jonah is a very honest and sincere person. I don't care much for his newer music, but he is a great person. He comes off in a negative light in this review, even bordering libel. i've never heard of this guy before but after reading this review and hearing the Mp3's he sounds like a total dipshit, I want to kick this guy's ass. Jade Tree needs to reinvent themselves a little I think. They need to stop putting out stupid records by guys with stupid names that are really solo artists but hid behind fake bands. It may have been a good little novety in the start but then it got old. This album is not special, don't bother with it. Go buy a book, a one on dinosaurs or Bosch or someithing. Stop listening to this pseudo-intellectual bullshit. while i agree that you certainly cannot base a score for a band based on their character, and scott seems to fueled by personal politics in this review.... the score is pretty much right. this album is just very generic. it doesnt stand out in anyway really. i listened to it once all the way through and never again. i hate to break it to you, but those are live drums in "over it". although i disagree with your score, i just wanted to say that this is probably the best you've ever written. kudos. "Questionable ethics or not, the album is just rather bland when examined against Jonah's past works. " "To The Jackass below: OK, all these people are saying how every time they've seen Jonah, it's been amazingly different; well personally, every time I've seen him (4 times over the past 3 years) things have been pretty much the same. I don't have a problem with that, but after seeing that at multiple shows, it just seems less sincere and spontaneous. Score is for the character assasination. Reviewing something is not the same as reporting news on something. My skills in journalism are applied for news reporting. My skills in creative writing are applied for reviewing. To The Jackass below: I often read reviews here and this is the first time I've felt compelled to post. This review was, without question, a bad review. It was biased, innaccurate and wildly off-target in many of it's statements. You have absolutely no proof of any of the accusations you make yet you post it in a review, which may be regarded by some to be the outright truth. If any of you unbiased folk are looking for a good review, head to Pitchfork: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/o/onelinedrawing/volunte ers.shtml I just don't feel like this guy is honest. real journalism isn't supposed to be biased. i sure as hell hope you're not majoring in journalism, because this piece is a little off and could use some edits. Now I see why you still let Jesse put up some god-awful review. Way to go douche. After a streak of stellar reviews, Scott reverts to his Mad Caddies/Bracket/JTB style, where the actual music is overshadowed by his opinion. what a terrible review. You spent half the time talking about his image than the actual music. "I have no problem with people making money, as long as that is their intent. But Jonah is playing people for fools, making them think they're part of some big community when all he's doing is assuring that Gratitude will sell some more copies when it comes out. " I think we're all just straying too far from the real point, which obviously is that Jonah's music has, and always will, suck. the reviews on this site are gravitating more and more towards complete crap. review the music, jackasses! it is almost laughable. I saw Jonah play with the Weakerthans and Motion City Soundtrack in Toronto, and I have to admit that if it's an act, it's delivered with some sincerity. so what if he does the same show every night (which i don't really find true from my own experiences). how many bands out there really vary their show that much? i'm pretty sure most bands don't change it up too much. and i bet that if a joke is succesful they'll pull it out again. Scott, honestly, I think you're thinkin' way too deep into this. Seriously. Don't you see? By doing all of that, he makes you think that it's okay that he just *happened* to stumble into a million dollar record deal. jonahs shows have been the greatest shows i've been to. he played in lock haven, pa... where i live twice. yeah but he does have a pretty kick ass booking agent too. "Proof of exactly what Scott was talking about. You are the sterotype. Most bands will let people have a shirt for little to no money every once and a while because it makes them look like DIYers who are totally friendly good people. Just because a guy plays a lot of shows doesn't mean that this person is DIY. It just means he has a good booking agent. Onelinedrawing has, and always will be, boring and shitty." Revolutions Smile > One Line Drawing scott, you're way way way off on this one...i dont know how many of his shows you've been to, but each and every one has been different, with different songs, different things said, etc Scott, I usually like your reviews, except that M.O.S. one...it was just a little too "fruity" for me, but this more or so focused on the guy himself. Dude, there was like nothing on the actual album in this review. Yes, you started to in the third paragraph, but you went right back to bashing him in the 4th! Oh yeah, there were one or two sentences in the las paragraph, as opposed to the gigundous list of offenses in the first couple. This review was more of a rant than an actual judge of the music. I don't care if you have a problem with the dude, and I get the fact that you gave it a low score because you don't think it's honest enough, but you should have edited it down a little so you could concentrate on the songs themselves. Somebody needs a big hug. He seems like a real chill dude and all, but this album is pretty boring. The best tracks are the instrumentals really. Also, he and his overdubbed clones hit THE WORST note ever in that songs "Boys" when they all sing "boys will be boys will be boys" the first half a second of that harmony is cool, but god damn are they off key after that who wants to talk about death cab for cutie, because I do "last time i saw jonah, he didn't play lukewarm, mother mary OR be quiet and drive. oh, and i've seen him 7 or 8 times, and he said different things between songs each times. and oh, last time i saw him play with the sliding scale, i got in for like $5. and oh, i saw him giving shirts to people for like $2 because they DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY! and oh, he talks about not selling out in terms of not changing his music to gain a wider audience, which he has continued to do. and oh, just because he has confessional and funny songs, doesn't mean it's a "token" type of song. it's called A STYLE. Alluar- I never ever said it was bad to take a million dollar record deal. You're 100% right that if someone offered me the same thing, I'd take it. But my problem comes in that Jonah prides himself on this whole DIY ethic publicly, but then behind-the-scenes is making major label deals like this. Shit, Gratitude's *never even played a show* and they already have a deal? And have you listened to the songs? They're built for modern rock radio. The band will be pretty huge. Yes, good review. It's nice to see someone look at the wider picture rather than simply focusing on the sound. i'm sorry, but if someone dangled a million dollar contract in front of your face and you decide to take it to feed your family and be a provider, all while not changing your music or true fans over a "target audience", I'd say it is a pretty good move. And i'm sure you would do the same. last time i saw jonah, he didn't play lukewarm, mother mary OR be quiet and drive. oh, and i've seen him 7 or 8 times, and he said different things between songs each times. and oh, last time i saw him play with the sliding scale, i got in for like $5. and oh, i saw him giving shirts to people for like $2 because they DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY! and oh, he talks about not selling out in terms of not changing his music to gain a wider audience, which he has continued to do. and oh, just because he has confessional and funny songs, doesn't mean it's a "token" type of song. it's called A STYLE. I never liked him. (edit: Staple/constants ARE the same thing. Fuckin' five hours of sleep) To Scott: i thought this was an album review? it sounds more like a grudge towards someone. scott may have a couple valid ideas but he is DIY. you don't have to like him, but he is quite the honest guy. he works his ass off to tour as much as he can, playing to whoever he can. one night he may be doing sold out shows with thursday and the next he is in a coffee shop in lawrence, ks playing to 19 people who came to see him do his thing. you wonder why those particular songs are on the setlist every night? it's because there is no setlist to a onelinedrawing show. he takes requests. sure he will play a few songs off his new album or to open the show but 75% of his shows are request. fans want to hear him do their favorite far and new end original songs. Excellent review. This album is like a really good popcorn flick. Track 3 is the highlight for me. Honestly, how different were they? The setlist might have been longer due to set times/headlining or what not, but odds are he played "Lukewarm," "Mother Mary," "Be Quiet And Drive," as well as the song he sings in Icelandic or something, the "her hips are like seashells" song, and the R2D2 song off Visitor. I'm sure there's even more stuff, but that's just off the top of my head. I will say this... Scott, I have to say in the few years I have been frequenting this site, your reviews have dramatically improved. Great review. |
