Certainly, the title
I’m Having Fun Now is a good indication of what the first album by LA lovebirds
Jenny Lewis and
Johnathan Rice is all about.
Lewis may be regarded as one of the finest singer/songwriters of her generation but her ambitions are kept in check here: all she wants to do is have some fun and maybe get some people to pay attention to her longtime boyfriend who has had several attempts at the brass ring - most notably the major-label 2007
Further North, which did get him some play on the OC - but has never managed to grab it.
Johnny may be overshadowed by
Jenny but that's because she has a professional’s knack for grabbing the spotlight even as she’s seeming to step away from it. Whenever she’s out front,
I’m Having Fun Now kicks into gear, its unassuming country-rockers given gas by her natural ease.
I’m Having Fun Now is an unforced good time that's of piece with
Acid Tongue, carved from its same country-rock, but it's not weighed down by rustic mythology; it substitutes roots for pop flair. Its casualness sometimes surfaces in its tossed-off jokes or sing-song melodies, but that only underscores that
Jenny & Johnny are having a good time - and it’s a good time that’s easy to share. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine