I have a great deal of fondness for Kansas City, Missouri. One of my best friends lives there, and I’ve always enjoyed my visits to the area. It’s been immortalized in song—Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s original song “Kansas City” was made famous by Little Richard and later covered by the Beatles. It’s infamous for its association with quality BBQ, of which there are many local joints to sample. It’s home to several great record stores—including Mills Record Company, where I’ve certainly purchased at least one of my Holy Grail LPs. Even contemporary alt-country darling Katie Crutchfield (perhaps better known by her pseudonym Waxahatchee) sports a KC cap on the cover photo of her brilliant 2024 album Tigers Blood. The city abounds with culture, offset by a rugged, hearty camaraderie one could only find in the Midwest.
Kansas City is also home to Joel Stratton, a multi-instrumentalist decidedly performing under the moniker joel vs joel (stylized in lowercase), who has just released his excellent full-length album Smile in the Mirror via the small-batch Midwestern label Enigmatic Brunch Records. Per his Bandcamp page, Stratton is a classically trained musician now acting as a singer-songwriter. However, Smile in the Mirror is hardly some highbrow deal, and I promise that’s a compliment. Throughout the 11 tracks featured here, the artist currently known as joel vs joel takes the listener on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from love to loss to success to failure and anything else that may lie at the center, all with a healthy serving of good humor spread evenly enough to cushion any serious blows.
Stratton displays a variety of influences here, from driving quasi-grunge in the album opener “Enantiodromia” to charming Beatlesque slop in “Boogaloo” to the almost Elliot Smith–channeling saccharine melancholia of “sim sim.” Regarding the latter, the back half of this record is where he really leans into this side, his acutely fingerpicked guitar stylings recalling those classic Nick Drake LPs. Album closer “gotta b in love” spots the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, ushering in a beaming, hopeful conclusion. The songs are tastefully adorned, with vibes, drums, strings, and lead guitar lines adding just enough to avoid crowding Stratton’s modest lyrical bursts. The result is an engaging album that rewards repeated listens, complete with honest, emotive songwriting at its core.
It takes a great deal of talent and discipline to escape the trappings of formality and deliver something so intuitive, so nearly autodidactic in feel. Nevertheless, that is exactly what Joel Stratton has done with Smile in the Mirror, his debut recording with Enigmatic Brunch Records. One can only hope that this trajectory continues for him and for us alike. To quote the label: “With joel vs joel, we all win.” Go Monarchs.
Written by Jacob Simons
