The joke is on me. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Joker’s Republic’s final pre-release single for their upcoming album “The Hand You’ve Been Dealt”. Well, I may have been wrong about it being the final pre-release single, because on September 26th, they released “Welcome Back”- the final of all final pre-release singles for their album “The Hand You’ve Been Dealt,” which releases on Punkerton Records on October 10th!
“Welcome Back” is the first song on the album, and is also the first song primarily written by bass player Billy Smolen. This gives it a unique feel and adds to the range the band presents in the upcoming album. Honestly, my first thought when I first heard this is that this sounds like the Wicked Bears- and that is definitely high praise. Wicked Bears’ “Underwater” is probably my favorite punk album in the last decade. It’s great to hear a ska band influenced by such a creative punk band and capture the sound so authentically while still making the song ska.
“Welcome back” is also a perfect title for the intro song on an album- as if to say, “it’s been 3 years since our last album, welcome back, let me show you the pretty noises we made just for you.” The song features beautiful tempo changes, an interesting song structure, and great dual and backing vocals with Smolen and Guitarist, and normal lead vocalist Austen Gray somewhat trading vocal duties on the song. With now 4 singles from the upcoming 12-song EP being released, we have a really good feel for what the album is going to be. The 4 singles show a pretty good diversity in sound and pace, from really catchy to punk rock to hardcore, to very ska punk, all with just a 3-piece band, and some of the best introspective lyrics. The album seems to feature a lot on mental health.
We are just 2 weeks away from the album’s release on Punkerton Records, and I’ve already pre-ordered it and have my hopes set high. If you like this single, be sure to pre-order the album now.
Written by Gimp Leg
