It’s finally here- 10/10, no notes… (checks notes) oh, that’s the release date, and I don’t score albums, I just write reviews? Oh, well, if I did score albums, it would be pretty damn close.
If you read my reviews, you almost certainly know about Joker’s Republic. They had 4 pre-release singles in the last few months, and I covered all of them, but the album is finally here, and it absolutely lives up to the expectations- but in case you didn’t read any of those reviews (and I don’t blame you)- Joker’s Republic is a three piece ska band out of New Jersey, breaking stereotypes and showing the world that ska absolutely does not need a horn section or a keyboard.
“The Hand You’ve Been Dealt” is the second Joker’s Republic album to be produced by Less Than Jake’s Roger Lima, and while the band has always featured vocals from all three members, this album is the first to feature some songs predominantly written by bass player Billy Smolen, which adds some new textures to the overall feel of the album. Smolen’s bass work on the album stands shoulder to shoulder with the best bass in any band in the punk and ska scene, and by the nature of only having three instruments, the talents are right at the forefront throughout the album. Pat Elwood’s drumming is fast-paced, solid, and, as I said regarding the bass, with only three members, it gives the drums a lot more of the limelight. These rhythms really help make and carry the songs. However, for me, Austen Gray’s lyrics are some of the most powerful and personal, catchy songwriting of the year, and the guitar solos spread throughout the album are what make this album so damn special.
This album is the first album they have released on their new label, Columbus, Ohio’s Punkerton Records. While Punkerton has long been one of the great punk rock labels dedicated to defending trans rights, human rights, a free Palestine, and a safe punk scene for all people, they have just recently announced that they are working on expanding with a project they are calling “ska punkerton” and branching more into ska punk with a dedicated commitment to the ska-punk scene and culture.
I don’t want to cover every song on this album because I did review the four singles individually, so I’m going to be a little bit brief on some of the music, but this album absolutely belongs in the list of best ska-punk albums of the decade.
The album begins with the song “Welcome Back,” where the first lyric is welcome back- and it literally welcomes the listeners back to an amazing album. The song is a “Wicked Bears” type modern pop punk track with solid ska riffs, and is the first of the songs written by Billy Smolen, and the unfortunate realization that everything is somehow worse now.
“Panic! Panic! Panic!” and “Break The Cycle” were both pre-release singles and are by choice for the two best songs on the album. Both deal with mental health and self-care in ways that are incredibly important. These are my two favorite Joker’s Republic songs of all time, and the guitar breakdowns in Panic are sexy as fuck. The bass at the start of “Break The Cycle” is so damn thick and juicy, and I love the gang vocals. If you do nothing else, please, just listen to these songs, and take their advice, make the changes in your life to break the cycles of bad habits, seek professional help if you can, take a breath, and think before you act. Don’t do something you’re going to regret. Life gets better. And life is always better with gang vocals and guitar solos.
The first song on the album that wasn’t released as a pre-release single is “Stop Killing Our Friends”, and it’s incredible and painful and devastating, about the loss of a friend due to hate violence for being queer. Lyrics that range from personal to political, a plea for help and an end to violence, a recognition of corrupt systems, bigotry, and bias in policing, violent rhetoric leading to the murder of LGBTQIA people, and dealing with the death of friends, telling their loved ones. The song ranges from anger to mourning and sadness.
“Dead Inside” was the other pre-release single and is more hardcore and ska-core, to expand on the range of the songs, and speaks of hopelessness that some of the other songs offset with messages of trying to escape. This song doesn’t quite have the light at the end of the tunnel or any advice.
The last song I’m actually going to write about is “Long Road Ahead”. The rest of the album is also solid; some of the songs are a little more lighthearted, and others are not. There are plenty of surprises from lyrically humorous songs that sound pretty distinct and stray pretty far musically, but “Long Road Ahead” is another personal favorite. From the first lyrics, “Don’t despair, just kidding, please despair,” and “Are we fucked, I’m pretty sure we’re fucked” before begging people to come together, to form a community, to make it through this together, as the country and the world have chosen bigotry, to crush our dreams and make life difficult. But if we stay together, form a community, let each of us support each other, make art together and for each other, then we will make it to the end together. It’s a beautiful and uplifting song about hope that plays perfectly after the previous track “Dead Inside”. Together they form an acknowledgement that we feel hopeless and dead and lost alone, but together, we can find joy, love, strength, and that we must form communities for the sake of all of us.
A few months ago, I was able to talk with Angelo Moore of Fishbone, and to paraphrase parts of that conversation, it’s important to write about your experiences and your reality and to share political music, but pop music is important too. People need to be able to escape and feel free. Even when you write about something important, it’s important to make it something you can dance to and have fun, to get the best of both worlds, and let people take in an important message while they are in a better mood. If that is what music is supposed to be and supposed to do, then this album is damn near perfect.
Written by Gimp Leg
