Joey Cape known for singing in legends Lagwagon, but also for his solo work just released his new solo album with Fat Wreck Chords and I listened and reviewed it for our zine.
Joey did fantastic songs solo acoustic and also acoustic renditions of Lagwagon songs and I love every one of his records. When Tony Sly passed away there was a big void in songwriting and creating fantastic punkrock songs. Now, that void is filled. Joey presents eleven new songs with heart, soul, melody, heartache. Fantastic title song is an ode not to give up when everything seems black and hopeless and piano parts besides guitar, drums, melody and Joey˙s voice make a totally full circle. Someone once said that solo Cape stuff are in fact dropouts from Lagwagon albums and this is not true, on the contrary material of this album is something far better written than most of Lagwagon˙s last albums, although not to get me wrong, I love Lagwagon very much. One of the highlights on this album is also I Know How To Run with so beautiful chorus and darkened vibe to the song. Not every song is acoustic, there are also full blooded punkrock songs like great Before My Heart Attack. One that deserves mentioning too is Possession with beautiful interplay between Joey´s and guest girl´s voices. Andalusia is in my opinion the best of the more guitar oriented songs on this album with mighty melody on chorus. Fall Down has that down and hopeless melody with guitar interwined with synth and topped with great vocal melodies. I would love to see Joey perform this stuff live, I am sure it is a unique experience. Superb record.
Tommy and June are two guys, two musicians, which just released their record with Fat Wreck Chords and I listened and reviewed it for our zine.
The record was produced and released by Fat Mike of Nofx, the owner of Fat, who met the guys while touring with his band and thought that they deserve to be heard and he was right. Tommy is an Israeli musician and June is Colombian Iranian and this music, this record is a proof that music really has no boundaries and no borders. The music of Tommy And June is acoustic, melancholic melodic punkrock with a lot of sadness, lot of personal demons and lyrics that I can sing along, cry along, smile and day dream along. Tommy sings the main vocals and he has an awesome singing melodic voice. June sings harmonies and their voices interplay fantastic. What I love about this record is that the songs are not boring, they are uptempo, lovely and take the listener to some other place on a listening journey. My favorites on this record are Lonely Train, Ghost of Paris, Better Life Story. Those are just some, but all of the songs are just super. Give this one a spin or two and you will se why I love it so much!
Cokie The Clown is the alter ego of Fat Mike, the singer/bassist of legendary Nofx and he just released his new record on Fat Wreck Chords. I listened and reviewed the record in our zine.
What to say first? I am still in awe of this record after listening it for couple of times now. It made me cry, it gave me hope, it helped me and also got me down too. Basically, this record is one man´s walkthrough personal Hell and fighting the personal demons and the past that haunts. The music is not similar to Nofx, nowhere near, it is haunting melodic mainly acoustic music with piano, synth melodies and also sometimes drums which add to the drama of the songs. Lyrics are the darkest lyrics I have ever heard in punkrock. Themes are death, suicide, coping with loss, depression, pain and heartache. Cokie The Clown does not give hope, it takes hope away from you. All of us who suffer from wicked depression throughout the years understand this record and love Cokie because he gave us this music. Some of you who read Hepatitis Bathtub book will know some of the song themes on this record. There is no in between, you will either love or hate this record. I love every single second. There are no hits on this record, no favorite songs, you have to listen to it as a whole.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 