The Loop : Gratitude - S/T

Gratitude - S/T (2005)

No man has mastered the art of the side-project like Jonah Mantranga. I already revisited his Onelinedrawing record, Visitor, but by nature of this man's musical ADD and my love for all things Jonah, he's made his way onto this list yet again.

While I mentioned Onelinedrawing caught my eye as a singer/songwriter on a hard rock show, Jonah has been known to rock in the past. His band New End Original boasts one of my favorite rock songs, "Lukewarm" and his band Far cause a huge stirr (at least in NYC) when they reformed this month to play a few shows here. People have stayed invested in him not only because of his good nature, but because his track record boasts some pretty great records with his many monikers and collaborators.

There was no question then that I'd pick up this record when it was announced and it's safe to say that this is my favorite of all the Mantranga projects. It was a side of Jonah I hadn't really seen, still "rocking", but with some incredible hooks and mainstream potential. So much so that they were picked up by Atlantic and this record released in 2005. As far as I know, it came out fairly quietly. The first single, "Drive Away" was a clear-cut smash with likely a lack of focus on the side of radio. It was a strange time for music in general, neither here no there with a direction for modern rock. I'm afraid that's where this band fell into for a lot of people, met with mostly indifference.

However, part of what I loved about this record was that I felt Jonah opened up more than I had ever seen him do. He was always very candid with his Onelinedrawing stuff, mostly in the lyrics but also divuldging a lot of detail in on-stage banter at shows. However, while the lyrics were not as personal (at least from what i can tell), his live performance was amazing. He took ownership of every song and exploded all over the stage. I only got a chance to see them play twice, once at Old Brickhouse in Downtown Phoenix and again at The Clubhouse, shortly before they broke up (there were only about 20 people there, nice job, Phoenix) Unfortuantely it was a sign of things to come.

I dont think I ever found out the full reason for them disbanding, but what I do know is that whatever synergy Jonah found with this project apart from his other endeavors just plain worked. Songs like "Sadie", "Last" and "This is the Part" were clear hits if the band had time to be developed, and the willingless to develop themselves. I'm sad their time was so short but thankful that they have this record to show for it.

Dude, there were hardly any videos of this band. The official video for "Drive Away" is quite good if you wanna look it up, but label big wigs won't let me get the embed code (as it goes)