Kinda Grizzly’s newest recruit to our collective – Chicago songsmith Justin Sconza – plays and records everything himself. Sometimes he does so on a 4-track or occasionally – if he’s spoiling himself – on an 8-track. He has been self-releasing his work since 2020 and we’re honoured to be along for the ride for his new album – “Standards”.
In the words of the man himself, “Standards is a collection of songs that I wrote a while ago, that I’ve been playing live for a long time, but that I’ve never recorded properly until now. That’s why it’s called “Standards” – like how jazz people say standards when they’re talking about the old classics. These are kind of like my own personal, old classics. Like the last album, I recorded everything in my attic on my Tascam 246 and then added some tracks on my Tascam Model 12. The attic is big and spacious and filled with light, and has such a great vibe.” If you, dear reader, are anything like us, we think you’ll agree that this great vibe carries over into these recordings. So, without further ado, please enjoy Justin Sconza’s “Standards”.
The Kinks meet Mac Demarco on the laid-back opener of Justin’s fifth LP. “If I Could Do It All Over Again” feels a bit like a daydream – or a soundtrack to a hazy montage in a romantic (but overtly cool) coming-of-age indie movie. The sort of song that Zac Braff might employ to evoke “all he feels”. The unique combination of wistful nostalgia coupled with the distinct undertone of regret makes it perfect for such a scenario. Musically, the track is shrouded in shimmering guitars and is held together by a steady backbeat (incidentally, this album is Justin’s first time recording a real-life drum kit), with Sconza’s distinctive, airy, gentle, trademark vocal at the forefront and a surprising harmonica solo adding another dimension. This is the perfect opener to the album.
“Broken Glass” is a deceptively jaunty little number that gets straight to the point. There are echoes of The Beach Boys here with the vocal layering and sunshiny vibes. There’s also a slightly creepy/haunting element to it that, to us at least, conjures images of spectral beauty and eerie ethereal essences. The song is about fighting the urge to be nostalgic. About trying to look forward to the future rather than longingly backward at the past. The memory of the past can suck you in and consume you if you let it. Broken Glass is about trying to resist that.
“Lonely Monica” is a little ditty about a woman who’s afraid to leave her house (“In a world as big as her room”) because she believes (perhaps quite rightly) that the world isn’t as friendly a place as it used to be. We envisage a desperate and deprived Stepford Wife with tunnel vision that doesn’t reach past her nose, or her white picket fence. She confers/confides in another who seems to understand Monica’s anxieties all too well. It makes you wonder who actually has the problem. The lyrical sentiment is paired with excellently executed retro-tinged instrumentation that drives from the beginning of the song to the end (only 93 seconds later). There’s a real “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” vibe to the message of the song – about aspirations to reach perceived better things – but who decides what better is and exactly what it looks like?
We all know the type. A punk rocker who takes the vibe just a little too far. Postcard Punks we call them, in London. The sort you still see occasionally in Camden Town. They look, objectively, rather silly, essentially wearing a costume. But, as this song examines, we all wear costumes – or masks – of some sort. We all wear masks, metaphorically speaking. Some are just more explicit and overt than others. And actually, the person in “You’re A Rocker” – with their heart proudly displayed on their sleeve – has a sincerity and an earnestness – or a conviction – that shines through the costume, more so than the average person has. And all the while this assessment is paired with a slightly folky guitar tone that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Grandaddy album. Now that’s a juxtaposition, people.
Opening with a rather glorious pairing of Rilo Kiley-meets-Johnny Cash-style alt-country guitar and a glittering piano motif that recurs throughout the song, “Pretty Picture” is about trying to make life nice and orderly – like a paint-by-numbers project. Where everything is predictable and simple and as it should be. But of course, as anyone who has lived a day in their life will be able to tell you, it just doesn’t work that way. The beautifully understated guitar and piano combination is eventually overshadowed by luscious Beatles-like strings (courtesy of Justin’s old Yamaha DX7) before taking centre stage again for the conclusion of the song.
Continuing the theme of the difference between life as you thought it would (or should) be versus the world as it really is – “In Real Life” shows us that our saviour can come in many forms. In this case, in the form of the song itself – singing a simple song about home and hopelessness serves to give us something to hold on to, to keep us going, despite the world not being what we want it to be. The song’s stripped-back structure and oompah-esque melody gives the beautiful piano lines space to flourish and with the blues-jazz melody, In Real Life sounds almost like something that Nina Simone could’ve sung.
Once again lamenting how life isn’t always what you thought it would be, “Suddenly” is the sound of reflection. Sometimes the world can seem like quite a dark place but then, if you’re lucky, somebody comes along that makes everything more tolerable. Suddenly is about what a wonderful thing that is and the light at the end of the tunnel. The ray of sunshine bursting through the dark rainclouds of life. Musically it has a touch of the 1980s about it – it’s a little new wave/indie – whilst also recalling the more modern tones and textures of bands like Death Cab For Cutie and The Strokes post-2005.
With a somewhat creepy Addams Family vibe about it, “Usually” sounds like it could’ve been on the soundtrack to a 1970s campy B-Movie. The tremolo-drenched guitar, the stomping rhythm, the plodding bass – it all adds up to create an atmosphere that is equal parts eerie and compelling. Thematically it’s sort of the cousin of Suddenly – about how we can ordinarily be one way, but how our worlds can be thrown upside down – for better or worse – with the introduction of a certain someone.
“Make Me Over” is – as Justin explains “about the release you get from resignation. It’s saying, you know what, you’ve got me completely. I’ll do whatever you want to make you happy because I can’t do anything else”. A sentiment I’m sure that resonates with many of us – trying to bend to the whim of another (or have them “make you over”) in order to make them happy – and the unique blend of hope and futility that comes with such an exercise. The Smiths-esque guitars and the almost Lou Reed-like rhythm blend together perfectly on the albums penultimate track to build a sort of melancholy wall of sound. But on the other side of that wall – post-makeover – is the grass greener?
The album closer “Timeless” is almost – all at the same time, the antithesis of, and the sibling to, Broken Glass. It’s a track about struggling – but accepting – the necessity to look forward, knowing that the past is gone. Where Broken Glass was about longing for times bygone, Timeless is about how to move forward from them. The harmonica that made a cameo on If I Could Do It All Over Again returns and has a touch of George Harrison’s magnum opus “Something” about it – good company to be in – and those DX7 strings also make a welcome return, adding additional textures and dimensions to an already beautiful piece.
In conclusion, Standards is an unmitigated success. A blend of modern indie and indie-adjacent sub-genres and historic, classic sounds. There’s a lyrical simplicity – almost a naivety – that absolutely selflessly serves these songs and makes them that much more accessible, resulting in an invaluable addition to the Sconza canon. Look out for a Live Greatest Hits studio session album from Justin in the not-too-distant future.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
