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10.26.04 On just his second studio album in eight years, Polonsky embellishes pristine power pop with light psychedelia and heavy riffing.
- Spin
10.26.04 It's a pleasure to witness his return. "The Power of Sound" finds the alternate-universe star sounding better than ever.
- The Onion
10.26.04 All the elements that made his debut in underground sensation are still in place: blistering energy, catchy melodies and clever attitude.
- CMJ
10.20.04 Whiz kid Jonny Polonsky has been relatively quiet for the past eight years, releasing only one six-song EP since his 1996 debut, Hi My Name Is Jonny. On September 21st, Polonsky released his long awaited follow-up, The Power Of Sound, to superlative reviews. Expectations are high for the 31 year old, but if the early evaluations of his new record are any indication, Jonny Polonsky will finally make his mark. [more]
- Tony Engelhart, Hybrid Magazine
10.12.04 Hard to believe it's been eight years since 22-year-old Jonny Polonsky's debut album, Hi My Name Is Jonny, left those of us who devour Raspberries-esque power pop delighted with the introduction. The suburban Chicago native may have lost that first record deal, but apparently not his knack for punching out 180-second sprees of hummable and incisively catchy songs, as his full-length follow-up, The Power of Sound, can attest. On the counsel of our own Pete Droge, Polonsky inked up with Seattle's Loveless Records, and there's an early buzz on the new album's wild-eyed bravado, diverse instrumentation, and songwriting buoyancy. Polonsky, now based in Los Angeles, handles every instrument (save for Josh Freese's drumming on two tracks) and niftily balances a few bawdy rockers with those all-familiar pop riffs that still ring clear from 1996.
- Scott Holter, The Stranger
10.04.04 In this business, a few artists are to be envied as 'survivors'--they're the truly talented people who make great music, and who were at one time or another considered by "the powers that be" as being "the next big thing." Back in the mid 1990s, someone must have devised a corporate memo stating that power-pop artists with a classic-rock and slightly punky edge would soon be the next trend in music... [more]
- Joseph Kyle, Mundane Sounds
10.01.04 - Jonny Polonsky's The Power of Sound is his first full-length album since 1996's Hi My Name Is Jonny. It is a welcome return. He sounds older, tougher, and less quirky. There is more power in his power pop, both because of the beefier guitars and heavier drums but also due to the sense of lost time and opportunities that often pops up in the lyrics and the more emotional and assured vocals, too... [more]
- Tim Sendra, AMG All Music
09.20.04 - This CD is kicking me in the pants right now. Ouch!
- Cheryl Waters, KEXP DJ
09.20.04 - Jonny Polonsky's first full-length in eight years, The Power of Sound, should be a welcome surprise to anyone who had the good fortune of discovering him in the mid-'90s and since assumed his career's demise. For the rest of us, it's a full-fledged indoctrination into the music of a man we should've been listening to all along. In a cliché just begging to be exploited, this is one powerful album, a blitzkrieg of grungy power-pop...[more]
- Nate Seltenrich, Glorious Noise
09.15.04 - Jonny Polonsky's first full-length in eight years, The Power of Sound, should be a welcome surprise to anyone who had the good fortune of discovering him in the mid-'90s and since assumed his career's demise. For the rest of us, it's a full-fledged indoctrination into the music of a man we should've been listening to all along. In a cliché just begging to be exploited, this is one powerful album, a blitzkrieg of grungy power-pop... [more]
- Tony Engelhart, Losing Today
09.06.04 - AXIS OF POLONSKY
Read all about Jonny's recent onstage exploits with Tom Morello, Serj Tankian and other rock figureheads of note...
"I get a lot of tapes, but these tapes were different. They were incredible, totally rockin' stuff. This guy was born to be a rock star and he creates the music to back it up. He is amazing."
- Frank Black (formerly Black Francis of the Pixies)
DoubleTake: ...have you ever heard of a guy named Jonny Polonsky?
Jeff Buckley: Oh yeah sure, the amazing Jonny Polonsky. Yeah. He came to CBGB's Gallery and ripped it up.
DT: It was a good show?
JB: He killed 'em.
DT: ...His songs, they're kind of derivative of stuff he likes -- the Kinks, the Beatles...
JB: Well, on the outset, and then the charm of it is that he's brought it into his own thing. It's a nice miniature. He does it with soul; you can tell the difference between someone who just slips into the Beatles or something and someone like him.
- Jeff Buckley (from DoubleTake Magazine)
Jonny Polonsky is, without a doubt, one of America's most talented rock singer/songwriters, accent on the rock. His American debut, Hi My Name is Jonny, was one of the most critically acclaimed LPs of the last ten years of the 20th century, and his new EP is even better!
- Virtually Alternative
“Not much wrong with the Wilmette native’s EP of power-pop goodness, perfect for a (16-minute) beachfront drive”.
- Chicago Sun Times
"Pop music as simply catchy and infectious as that of Polonsky's heroes The Beatles and The Monkees."
- NY Times
"Jonny Polonsky has come up with a debut album to rival all debuts...Track for track, Polonsky's songs stick in the brain--every one a completely turned out gem"
- SF Examiner
"24 minutes of blissful heaven."
- MTV Online
"Simply put, Polonsky is the freshest pop star to emerge since Matthew Sweet."
- Philadelphia Express
"The kind of dazzling pure pop music that will remind listeners of those magnificent Liverpudlians, John Lennon and Elvis Costello. Don't guffaw. I'm telling you folks, he's that good."
- Raygun
"The songs on this debut effort are smartly crafted nuggets of nascent power pop wisdom. The kid is all right."
- Hits
"I have seen the future of Rock n Roll, and his name is Jonny Polonsky"
- Strobe
Never, ever, have I been in such a state. Jonny Polonsky is, without question, God. His songs reduced me to tears, laughter and joy.
- Revolutions
Jonny Polonsky somehow has slipped through the cracks of both the mainstream market and the indie world, and that's very difficult for me to digest... His singing whine is probably the most infectious I've heard, and his simple lyrics beg for you to sing along... Imagine Kurt Cobain drug-free, singing quaint pop songs before he fried his voice screaming and you'll get Polonsky's voice. His refreshing rock pop melodies are simple enough to appeal to the masses, but edgy enough to keep him in the underground music scene. Although his music is straight forward, and quite simple, it's performed in a very charismatic way that's difficult to explain.
- Firesideometer.com
"Jonny Polonsky writes exactly the kind of genreless songs that are likely to never sound out of date. They're not trying to be anything but hooky rock songs, with an admirable lack of posing, that crawlunder your skin and stay there.
- Emma Johnston, Kerrang!
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