The album is very very cool. Nice to hear his older demos. I love all of his music - this album included.

= a review i'll post on my music review site tomorrow (it's quite lengthy, i'm sorry about that) The “TAJP” in the title stands for ‘The Amazing Jonny Polonsky,’ the name JP used when he released his first demos (strictly on tape). At the time, the adjective “amazing” may have sounded a bit snotty, but it certainly fits the music, most of which is equally bratty and a few years after these demos were recorded, Polonsky would prove himself worthy of the word with the release of the exceptional Hi My Name Is Jonny, so he could’ve called himself ‘The Incredible Jonny Polonsky’ and I still wouldn’t have been offended. Anyway, this compilation contains the demos Aw, Blow It Out Yer Ass – A Tribute to Groundhog’s Day (1992), The Amazing Jonny Polonsky is a Premium White American (1993), I Like Porn (1994) and two bonus tracks. All together, that’s 28 songs that rush past in less than 49 minutes. Hello Minuteman! This compilation also contains the stuff that Reeves Gabrels passed on to Frank Black, who thought it was “totally rockin’ stuff,” and he’s right, because most of these songs burst with talent, an amount of hooks most bands need an entire career for and a diversity that’s quite common among starting musicians like him (“you can never have enough ideas, right?”), but that are rarely executed this infectiously. Now, compared to his full-length (of 24 minutes), the songs from the first two demos are more memorable for their humor and brevity (the first demo, of eight songs, is approximately 11 minutes long) than for their structure or strong melodies, but as a trip to a gifted lunatic’s mind it’s a total blast. Starting off with a c&w-swing-meets-lots-of-nonsense-version of “Jingle Bells,” the first demo contains stuff that sounds like Tex-Mex done by Camper Van Beethoven (“El Perro Caliente”), The Butthole Surfers interpreted by Ween (“P.S.A. from Your Local Incubus”), The Coasters on a foul-mouthing trip (“The Legend of Beaver Man Spats”) or the stuff that would turn Calexico into critic’s favorites (“Castration Dance”). The second demo contains in a similar vein, with more deranged takes on cheesy fifties pop and doo-wop such as the 50 seconds of “Midget With a Dog” or the completely deranged “Try On Me.” Furthermore, “Garflinggg, P.I.” sounds like a collaboration of Angelo Badalamenti and Tom Waits doin’ lounge, “Tales from the Last of a Dying Breed” refers to Ennio Morricone’s Spaghetti-scores with galloping drums and slashing twangy-guitars, while “Rig Jig/The Slaw of Maille McGraw” (with a helium voice delivering lyrics such as “For the beaver is good, but not as good as the foot or the slaw of Maille McGraw”) could’ve been taken from an imaginary Shane McGowan album, after he’d underwent a lobotomy. I’m sorry about these weird comparisons, but they do make it easier to describe the stuff here. However, the true weight of the compilation is in the 10-song third demo, with Polonsky suddenly churning out inane slabs of driven and outstanding powerpop-with-an-edge, six of which would end up on his debut album. Tracks such as the hard-rocking “I’m Incontinent,” which is much more self-assured than the title suggests, “Love Lovely Love” (still one of the best happy songs I ever heard), the raw “Truly Ugly and Dead Too” (complete with echo-laden vocals), the side-splitting country of “Like an Ordinary Jew” and the punky “My Humongous Cock” (re-titled as “I Don’t Know What to Dream at Night” for the album) resonate with an undeniable knack for melodies and target the head ànd the gut. Of course, these tracks are a bit scruffier than the final album-versions, but there’s no doubt about the guy’s (only about 20-21 years old at this point) self-confidence. Touched by Genius is certainly not everybody’s cup of funny tea and it’s probably not the place to start your Polonsky-collection with either (the debut remains the 24-minute blow-up), but if you like the man’s stuff, it’s definitely worthwhile checking out where he came from. On the other hand, any Polonsky you can get is a good one, as even the throwaways are at least remarkable.

Jonny Polonsky is definitely one of the most talented songwriter of the time, and it was already the case 10 years ago. Here's 3 of the first recordings of the guy, and he's right, he's amazing, especially through the diversity of the styles. The third tape gathers most of the songs of "Hi, my name is Jonny", his first album. A découvrir absolument!

TAJP ROCKS! This is a very interesting perspective of his early work. The early recordings from Hi, My name is Jonny are awesome!