Originality is left behind with Jonasay’s “Spare Dimes For Dust.”

Jonasay is a group of four men from Washington, D.C., that comes together to make music that doesn’t quite fit an exact genre. Some call it folk rock, others call it pop rock. For the most part, Jonasay plays music that is fun and interesting, but at times it gets a little repetitive.

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Jonasay’s sophomore release has 11 tracks total, most of which sound the same. While listening to the album, you may question if your CD player is stuck on repeat. Most of the songs lack originality, and this makes you want to just skip all the way through the album.

There is one standout song on the album: “Stay.” It has great guitar riffs and vocals. It is the one song that will get attention because the lyrics are emotional and it has a melody that will stick in your head.

Lead singer and guitarist Justin Sheehy fills the music with honest emotion and human experiences. The other band members, Mark Williams (lead guitarist), Micheal Alban (bassist) and Mike Leach (drummer) come together to make Jonasay.

Jonasay had released one other album “Alban” three years ago, but have been together for six years. All four are veteran musicians, with many years of playing shows and doing music.

The album is reminiscent of other bands like Counting Crows and Sister Hazel because of the way the guitar flows and the singing style.

The problem with a group like this is that it lacks that “unique something” that will keep it from going mainstream. Jonasay just doesn’t have anything that will make you feel like it is special. If the guitar sounded a bit different on every song, that might have made it sound a bit more original.

Jonasay is a talented group of individuals, but it hasn’t found a sound that people are really going to be interested in. By no means is this a bad album, it just lacks the creativity and originality that people look for in music.