Angela's Staff Pick: November 3, 2022

Hey fam! How’s everyone doing? All is well on my end. The two days of Fall we had were so great, but the weather said “siiiike it’s still summer, burn in Hell!” so it’s gonna be like 80 degrees all weekend. So gross. Fake Fall is real, and it hurts.

No internal debate necessary for this week’s staff pick. Hands down, it’s the Judy and the Jerks Music to go Nuts LP. To call it an LP is a stretch to be honest. It’s more of a super solid EP. Anyway, I’ve heard bits of this record coming from Daniel’s office and I’ve asked what he was listening to on at least two different occasions and the answer was always Judy and the Jerks. So I figured it was time to sit with it myself. I played it, loved it, and haven’t stopped playing it.

This record is a great mix of sounds that all work. Some of it has a more playful retro surfer punk sound with the snotty vocals, and some of it is hardcore. There’s even a more lo-fi punk track for good measure.

The tight AF rhythm section and meaner sound on the song Nothing to Prove stopped me in my tracks. It’s very anthemic and I can see this one getting a crowd going. Scorpion is another one on repeat. You can’t not like it. Kudos to Hampton Martin, who has a real talent for sliding in and effortlessly syncing up to the beat. I’m such an appreciator of a really tight and instinctual rhythm section with clean drum beats and catchy bass lines. A lot of times you’re lucky to get one or two songs where the bass stands out, but on this record the bass is THE standout for me.

California is the catchiest, danciest song on the record. The lyrics are super fun (“start a band and tour the Northwest, maybe we could even play the Olympia hardcore fest. Make it big just like Black Flag. Be on the cover of the Maximum Rocknroll mag”). Delivered with bratty sarcastic vocals and a great beat, it’s kind of addicting.

The band really switches things up with the closing song, Control. This is a way more lo-fi, dare I say grungier sounding track with an intro that seems longer than most of the songs. It’s not though, don’t worry. The guitar really shines on this track, even leading the song into noise rock territory for a brief moment toward the end before reeling things back in. It’s a really well-rounded song that adds interest to the mix and reminds you of what the band is capable of. I think it’s a cool move to close the album with a track that sounds the most different from any other song on the album.

We have a few copies left, and I highly recommend it. I’ve been keeping track of my top 10 records for the year and this one just made its way in.

Thanks for reading!

Angela


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