The Penguin Party
"Mid Life Chris"

The JosieJo Show Number 1

                                            http://www.mixcloud.com/joanne-salisbury/

The JosieJo Show 1

 JosieJo’s Great Big Pair of Tips

   Greetings. This is The JosieJo Show and I’m JosieJo here to bring you two great tips every show a track each from two different artists/bands/musicians. I’ve been going to gigs, digging around on the internet and generally making a nuisance of myself to find the good stuff out there. You probably won’t like all that I play, but hopefully you’ll discover your new favourite band right here. It’s the JosieJo Show – let’s give it a go. 

    First up I simply have to play you The Penguin Party. They are the reason I started this show. If you want to hear the story of that then go to my website www.josiejo.com, but let me tell you about The Penguin Party. Formed by Dave Milligan it’s a rocky five piece from Essex, England and they’re pure power pop. The songs are stories; stories of local characters and the landscape and scrapes they encounter in everyday life. From commuting into London to the challenges of being a transvestite roofer, single parent. It may not be life exactly as you know it, but it is life nonetheless. Headed up Dave Milligan and co-produced by Gareth David hall on bass, this band is tight. You also get Jan Black and the most amazing hair you’ll ever see on a keyboard player, Johnny Holburn kicking in large in a nifty hat on drums and Dave’s Uber talented and effortlessly cool son, Jake Milligan, on guitar. Live at The Railway Hotel recently (21st September 2013) they played two enthusiastic sets that were…well just really, really good fun. 

    The track I’ve chosen is “Mike-Leigh-On-Sea” is from their second album “Sex Furniture Warehouse and Other Stories” which comes packaged in a book packed with lyrics and photos (there’s even a picture of my tattoo for those of you with a curious disposition). The album is full of the tales that I talked of earlier, but this track is a real anthem of the area; that Canvey Island, Essex delta that the likes of Dr. Feelgood introduced us to. This is a song about getting drunk (many of them on the album are and if you want to read my full review go to my Tumblr or Blogger sites under JosieJo Show). It catalogues that roller coaster journey you take as you are lifted up to hero status and come crashing back down into the day after. It’s got a hooky tune and chorus with pace changes that keep you disoriented and subtle word play over clever rifts. Enjoy a night out with The Penguin Party and “Mike-Leigh-On-Sea”

 It’s the second track on the album which you can stream for free 

http://penguinparty.bandcamp.com/album/sex-furniture-warehouse-and-other-stories 

    That was The Penguin Party and “Mike-Leigh-On-Sea” and you can see photos, videos and buy CDs and merchandise via their webpage www.thepenguinparty.co.uk 

     So from powerpop, to punk. Get used to this, I’m not known for my specialist genres. The JosieJo Show is trans-genre. Standby for The Charly Syndrome from Burnley, U.K. A bleak yet starkly beautiful town in northern England, Burnley has an impressive treasure chest of brilliant independent music. Stick with the show and I’ll introduce you to some of it. I came across The Charly Syndrome because I went to school with the drummer, Frankie Fontaine, or Barry from Burnley as we called him, (nicknames weren’t very inventive at my school). Frankie Fontaine is a much better name for him. Flamboyant and charismatic, Frankie creates what can only be described as BIG DRUMS. Some may say that they are not quite physically big enough due to the fact that he has a tendency to end up naked by the end of the gig. Although when I saw them play live in Nelson his wife made him keep his pants on (that’s underwear for our American readers) due to the fact that his daughter was in the audience. Naked drummers are just part of the show that this intensely physical band put on. Couple that entertainment with a sound that crawls into your soul through punk beats raw guitar, and the deep vocals of Brocky the singer who often migrates into the audience leaving you no-where to hide, you can’t ignore The Charly Syndrome. At full tilt they can fill the room and spill out of the door.

     This track “E.G.O” is pure, in-yer-face comment that you can’t turn away from. These guys aren’t dum. Their lyrics may seem a little bit cross, but they are a comment on our self -absorption and society’s struggle against the personal fable that people often use to relinquish responsibility. Having said that, don’t worry too much about the message because it’s the energy of this track that really counts. I find it just lets me be ok with not always liking other people the whole time and that, in itself, keeps me from punching them. So enjoy the social service that is The Charly Syndrome and “E.G.O” 

I can’t find this as a free stream so you’ll just have to listen to the audio version of JosieJo’s Great Big Pair of Tips by listening to show one of “The JosieJo Show”

 http://www.mixcloud.com/joanne-salisbury/

Against the Grain - Squeeze

Review "Sex Furniture Warehouse and Other Stories" - The Penguin Party

For all of you who bemoan the demise of cover notes and those fabulous pull out bits of Album sleeves that we used to pour over in our youth, welcome to "Sex furniture Warehouse and other Stories" by the essex based band The Penguin Party. The album comes packaged in its own book which includes the lyrics and photographs that provide a witty nod to the quirky-pop, quirky-clever, and sometimes quirkily-dark album within.
You won't find a band surprised that hearts get broken or that teenage boys like cars. What you will find is crafted power-pop sneakily wrapped round life stories from a bunch of guys who lived and, sort of, learnt. If you've got a middle-aged hangover again (and who hasn't) try "It's Not Big". If you've fallen in love with your wife all over again after bringing up kids together try "Song For My Old Lady" and if you've ever thought your Dad did a great job just being your dad or you are a transvestite roofer, then try "Roofer's Daughter"

This is just a great English band telling great stories that will catch in your head make you go "yeah I know what you mean"
This album probably won't change the world or even your life, but it'll probably make you laugh and make you feel just a bit better about not being a teenage boy with a broken heart who likes cars.

http://thepenguinparty.moonfruit.com/#/the-music/4568465999

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On a sunny day, there is often an unexpected, deep joy involved in stumbling across good reggae gold. Nucleus Roots is such a sound. It's a pure reggae roots sound from Manchester, England fronted by Paul Lush. This sound comes straight from Partial Records reggae label run by my mate Liam McGurk who is passionate about everything reggae. I think his inner life must just feel like one big ball of yellow sunshine. The label is free from any whizzy graphics or aggressive marketing. It's sense of identity is parred down and committed to vinyl. You don't have to be a “reggae vinyl head” to love this label (the music is available on other formats), but it helps. There is almost a sense of White label-ness about the way it let's the music sell itself.

This track from Nucleus Roots is called “Deep Roots” and features Don Hartley. You can't get much groovier than this. It's recently been released on 10 inch vinyl that includes four mixes of the track. FOUR mixes. You can choose a different one for each day of the weekend and believe me a listen or two of this track will have you taking four day weekends as standard. There is nothing over flouncy or bone shaking about this track. It is was it is and it is Nucleus roots featuring Don Hartley and “Deep Roots”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YdIH4igvJho#t=16

Now here's a thing. Sound people, that is people that work in the artistic and technical field of sound, are often in bands. Uber aware of the effect of music on so many levels of our pyschological well being, soundies often take to instruments like clouds take to rain (don't analyse that simile too closely, just go with it). This band, Foley Artist, are no exception. You probably know that foley artists are the people that dub on those effective and often sub-concious sounds in films by stamping on gravel, hooting horns and generally having fun with sound. The band Foley Artist definitely has that sense of of the excitement and trickery of sound. They are based in the South of England and are three guys that take you on a journey.

This track, “Gravity”, is a six minute landscape of rock. I have no idea what genre or style you would call this so I'm just going to let you spend your time listening to the track, rather than reading my vague ramblings about it. It's spiky and quirky then flowing and harmonious. You'll come to your own conclusions about it I'm sure, but try not to just dip on and out of it and give the whole project a listen from start to end if you can.. Let Foley Artist take you on a trip with “Gravity”

https://www.facebook.com/foleyartistband/app_178091127385